COLUMBUS – New census data shows Columbus and central Ohio grew significantly over the past decade.
The population of Columbus population grew to 905,748 as Franklin County gained more than 100,000 residents.
Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati, also gained population but Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown, Canton and Dayton all lost population.
Five of Ohio’s six fastest-growing counties are in central Ohio, according to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer and Columbus Dispatch.
Delaware County was No.1, gaining 23% between 2010 and 2020, followed by Union, Franklin, Fairfield and Licking Counites.
Of Ohio’s 88 counties, 33 lost population.
Ohio’s population grew by a sluggish 2.3% overall, compared with national growth of 7.4%. That lag cost the state one of its 16 congressional districts.
The nation experienced its second-lowest population growth ever. Only the 1930s, in the depths of the Great Depressions, saw smaller growth.
The population changes impact the upcoming process of redrawing legislative districts. The heavily Democratic Franklin County grew by more than 160,000 residents as Ohio’s traditionally Republican rural and Appalachian regions lost residents.
Census data also showed large growth in Seattle and Los Angeles and some of their suburbs.
Other cities gaining at least 100,000 people included Charlotte, Denver Jacksonville, New York and Oklahoma City.
The fastest-growing U.S. metropolitan area was The Villages in central Florida, the largest retirement community in the nation, which grew 39% from about 93,000 people to about 130,000.