Nearly every place in Crawford County losing people

BUCYRUS – The drumbeat of bad news on Crawford County’s population trends continued this week with the release of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, showing that among the county’s eight incorporated communities and 16 townships, only one has avoided losing population over the past five years.

The village of Chatfield, the county’s smallest incorporated area, was able to maintain its population from 2010, when it stood at 189, through 2014, when it was still at 189. Even the village of North Robinson, Crawford County’s next smallest village, saw its population drop over the period, albeit only slightly, from 205 to 201 persons, according to the Census Bureau.

Moving up the population chart, every other village and city in the county watched its numbers drop over the past five years. While the population losses were greater numerically, proportionally no community did better or worse than the others during the period.

The village of Tiro had 280 residents in 2010, dropping to 274 in 2014, while the village of New Washington, with a population of 967 in 2010, was down to 939 five years later.

The village of Crestline lost its status as a city several years ago when its population dropped back below 5,000 people, and it shows no signs of attaining that mark again anytime soon, falling from 4,623 in 2010 to 4,463 last year, the Census Bureau said.

For a great many years the city of Bucyrus has been Crawford County’s most populous incorporated area, topping the city of Galion by a narrow margin, and that margin remained steady from 2010 to 2014, although both municipalities lost people.

Galion dropped from 10,507 people in 2010 to 10,175 last year, while the population of Bucyrus fell from 12,360 to 11,973 during the same period, according to the Census Bureau.

Crawford County has 16 townships, which vary markedly in size and population. But they all recorded population decline over the past five years, even little Texas Township, a sliver of land in the northwest corner of the county that went from 384 persons in 2010 to 375 in 2014.

The county’s most populous township is Polk, surrounding Galion; it dropped from 2,132 persons in 2010 to 2,075 last year. Right behind Polk is Whetstone Township, a sprawling area southeast of Bucyrus that saw its population fall from 2,080 in 2010 to 2,025 in 2014.

As for Crawford County as a whole, its population, standing at 43,778 five years ago, was down to 42,480 last year, a decrease of 3.0 percent. However, the number of housing units in the county, as determined by the Census Bureau, has remained fairly steady during the same period, dropping from 20,158 to just 20,002, suggesting that the number of vacant dwellings in the county has grown, although families may also be smaller overall.

Over the past five years, Crawford County’s population has dropped faster than that of any other county in Ohio with the exception of Paulding County. It ranks 54th among the state’s 88 counties in population.

The county’s population peaked at 51,714 in 1971, then remained largely stable for the rest of that decade. A very slow, gradual decline began in the 1980s, accelerating after 2000, although that acceleration has been replaced with a flatter – but still consistent – population drop over the past several years.

Historically, Crawford County witnessed its initial population boom in the 1830s, when the number of settlers here shot up by 175 percent. The county also had a strong showing in the 1950s, when the region’s healthy manufacturing sector contributed to a 21 percent rise in population here.

All of Crawford County’s neighboring counties also saw their populations decline in 2010-14 with the exception of Morrow County, which edged up by 0.9 percent as more of its residents have used the Interstate 71 corridor to commute to jobs in the Columbus metro area.

In fact, according to the Census Bureau, although 13 of the 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. were in the South and West in 2010-14, two were not. One was New York City, the other Columbus.

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ