Ohio Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Ohio, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Ohio. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Ohio. The estimated population of Ohio is 11,769,923 people, with a median age of 39.4.

We can look at the total population in Ohio over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
11,769,923
+0.81%
+1.38%
2020
11,675,275
+0.17%
-
2019
11,655,397
+0.12%
-
2018
11,641,879
+0.28%
-
2017
11,609,756
- -

Population of Ohio by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
77.8%
79.6%
-2.26%
Black/African American
12.2%
12.1%
+0.83%
Native
0.1%
0.1%
0.00%
Hispanic
4.1%
3.6%
+13.89%
Asian
2.3%
2%
+15.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.3%
2.3%
+43.48%
Other
0.3%
0.1%
+200.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Ohio by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 39.4 -0.25% 38.2 +0.53% 40.6 -0.73%
2020 39.5 +0.25% 38 +0.26% 40.9 +0.25%
2019 39.4 +0.25% 37.9 +0.26% 40.8 0%
2018 39.3 0% 37.8 0% 40.8 0%
2017 39.3 - 37.8 - 40.8 -

The median age of Ohio gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 726,016 -1.02% 690,827 -1.07% 718,503 683,434
10 to 19 777,328 +1.38% 744,215 +1.34% 787,936 753,991
20 to 29 782,325 -0.77% 762,645 -0.56% 776,186 758,405
30 to 39 704,737 +5.83% 707,406 +4.57% 746,726 740,228
40 to 49 722,106 -1.86% 737,348 -3.32% 708,609 713,155
50 to 59 809,860 -3.12% 851,186 -6.86% 784,744 794,329
60 to 69 652,114 +8.28% 707,919 +8.21% 707,720 767,787
70+ 511,595 +10.89% 722,129 +4.99% 569,580 758,590

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Ohio is $61,938.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Ohio.

  • Under 25
    $34,966.00
  • 25 to 44
    $69,071.00
  • 45 to 64
    $74,999.00
  • 65 and over
    $46,112.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Ohio, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Ohio, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Ohio is currently $83,820.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

6.16% of households in Ohio are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Ohio against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    19.01%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.81%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.02%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.21%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    15.47%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.32%
  • $200,000 or more
    6.16%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Ohio is $34,526.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Ohio by the total population of Ohio.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Ohio, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Ohio to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    13.05%
  • Bachelor's degree
    28.70%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.73%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    44.98%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.54%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Ohio that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Ohio over the age of 16 is 9,449,482.

Of those people, a total of 63.30% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Ohio is 59.90%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 623,423 45.70% 15.00%
20 to 24 years 748,606 77.80% 8.60%
25 to 29 years 785,985 84.00% 6.30%
30 to 34 years 757,273 83.70% 4.90%
35 to 44 years 1,430,057 83.60% 4.50%
45 to 54 years 1,478,888 81.70% 3.90%
55 to 59 years 821,573 72.80% 3.50%
60 to 64 years 798,875 57.30% 3.30%
65 to 74 years 1,196,942 25.90% 3.40%
75 years and over 807,860 6.40% 4.40%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Ohio. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 7,696,684 63.10% 4.30%
Black or African American 1,112,966 62.40% 10.60%
American Indian and Alaska Native 15,112 56.20% 9.20%
Asian 222,195 66.80% 3.80%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 2,858 58.20% 8.20%
Other 102,130 67.10% 8.20%
Two or more races 297,537 67.70% 8.90%
Hispanic or Latino 325,188 69.10% 7.30%
Not Hispanic or Latino 7,545,808 63.00% 4.30%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Ohio as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Ohio is 5,656,463, with median earnings of $40,319.00.

Women in Ohio earning approximately 70.30% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 5,656,463 $40,319.00
Male 2,939,506 $47,646.00
Female 2,716,957 $33,498.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 579,351 $71,262.00
Business and Financial 298,233 $63,838.00
Computer and Mathematical 168,288 $77,542.00
Architecture and Engineering 116,491 $79,101.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 48,306 $56,285.00
Community and Social Service 101,610 $42,529.00
Legal 51,412 $74,539.00
Educational and Library 318,523 $44,219.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 88,544 $37,562.00
Healthcare Practitioners 402,134 $57,590.00
Healthcare Support 190,005 $24,537.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 59,895 $35,173.00
Law Enforcement 47,872 $61,982.00
Food Preparation and Serving 320,022 $13,194.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 188,482 $22,386.00
Personal Care and Service 128,225 $16,745.00
Sales 524,880 $32,284.00
Office and Administrative Support 650,771 $34,289.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 16,584 $24,220.00
Construction and Extraction 232,355 $44,096.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 171,294 $48,305.00
Production 460,416 $39,559.00
Transportation and Material Moving 217,585 $38,538.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 340,774 $82,106.00 238,577 $57,970.00
Business and Financial 137,529 $74,502.00 160,704 $56,669.00
Computer and Mathematical 126,349 $79,999.00 41,939 $67,108.00
Architecture and Engineering 99,006 $81,141.00 17,485 $68,174.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 26,037 $60,746.00 22,269 $53,018.00
Community and Social Service 33,664 $44,166.00 67,946 $41,595.00
Legal 25,430 $104,808.00 25,982 $58,737.00
Educational and Library 86,174 $55,338.00 232,349 $40,658.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 43,089 $43,936.00 45,455 $30,674.00
Healthcare Practitioners 86,923 $74,014.00 315,211 $54,631.00
Healthcare Support 24,270 $27,085.00 165,735 $24,205.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 45,352 $42,172.00 14,543 $23,027.00
Law Enforcement 39,857 $64,375.00 8,015 $49,940.00
Food Preparation and Serving 130,983 $13,881.00 189,039 $12,749.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 119,442 $28,074.00 69,040 $16,303.00
Personal Care and Service 29,003 $18,266.00 99,222 $16,499.00
Sales 263,882 $47,266.00 260,998 $21,665.00
Office and Administrative Support 165,358 $39,010.00 485,413 $33,136.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 12,319 $26,953.00 4,265 $18,177.00
Construction and Extraction 223,409 $44,518.00 8,946 $31,117.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 165,131 $48,862.00 6,163 $36,304.00
Production 330,946 $43,612.00 129,470 $30,210.00
Transportation and Material Moving 184,753 $42,036.00 32,832 $23,902.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 4,754,161 households in Ohio, with an average household size of 2.41 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 2,964,953 families in Ohio with an average family size of 3.03 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 2,154,854 228,400 581,699 1,789,208
Average Household Size 3.09 3.16 3.23 1.23
Total Families 2,154,854 228,400 581,699 0
Average Household Size 3.07 2.74 3.01 0

Poverty

Of the 2,964,953 families in Ohio, 9.30% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Ohio:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 5,232,733 housing units in Ohio.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 4,754,161 90.85%
Vacant 478,572 9.15%

28.76% of the total 5,232,733 housing units in Ohio are rental units. This is approximately 1,504,999 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 3,165,935 are occupied by the owner - or 60.50% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Ohio is $870.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Ohio that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    83,227
  • Less than $500
    172,447
  • $500 to $999
    801,557
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    405,582
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    88,141
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    21,943
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    6,455
  • $3,000 or more
    8,874

Property Value

The median value of a property in Ohio is $159,900.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Ohio that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    245,208
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    571,783
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    633,991
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    559,961
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    619,510
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    398,229
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    117,901
  • $1,000,000 or more
    19,352

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Ohio. The chart below shows the number of properties in Ohio that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    1,021,621
  • 1940 to 1949
    307,765
  • 1950 to 1959
    721,241
  • 1960 to 1969
    625,850
  • 1970 to 1979
    740,067
  • 1980 to 1989
    475,890
  • 1990 to 1999
    613,280
  • 2000 to 2009
    494,787
  • 2010 to 2013
    226,671
  • 2014 or later
    5,561

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Ohio that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    357,194
  • 1 vehicle available
    1,571,267
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,797,442
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    1,028,258

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Ohio get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Ohio that commute to work in a particular way.

23.7 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Ohio.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    178,107
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    560,947
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    731,603
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    823,508
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    811,344
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    425,619
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    638,583
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    174,825
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    176,934
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    314,709
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    173,199
  • 90 or more minutes
    90,435

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Ohio in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Ohio

We have data for 88 counties in Ohio. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Ohio

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Ohio, click on the links below.