Crawford County population continues to fall

BUCYRUS – Local community leaders are well aware of the problems posed by Crawford County's steadily declining population and have strategies in place that they hope ultimately will reverse it. But they have their work cut out for them.

The county once again lost residents in 2014, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, with 42,480 estimated residents as of July 1, down from 42,770 in 2013, a loss of 290 people.

That might not seem like a lot of people and it's not, but Crawford County, with its relatively stable, largely rural character, doesn't have a lot of people to lose.

Most troubling, from 2010 through 2014, according to the Census, the county has seen its population drop by 3.0 percent. That's more than any other county in Ohio with the exception of Paulding County, in the northwestern part of the state east of Fort Wayne, Ind.

During the past five years, Crawford County, or what the Census Bureau calls the Bucyrus micropolitan area, has lost 1,304 people, ranking it 54th among Ohio'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.

The number of county residents still working in manufacturing now stands at 23.1 percent, according to the Census Bureau. That's more than in any other economic sector, but just barely, with educational services, followed by health care and social assistance, very close behind.

The Census Bureau's most recent American Community Survey five-year estimate for Crawford County, for 2009-13, shows families making up 67 percent of our households, with 52.5 percent of those married couples. That compares favorably to national figures of 66 percent and 48.7 percent, respectively.

Troubling, however, is Crawford County's median age – 42.4 years and climbing – particularly when compared to the national median age of 37.3 years. Eighteen percent of the county's residents were 65 or older in 2009-13, while seniors made up 13 percent of the nation's population.

Population decline? Incline the attitude

Even more worrisome is the percentage of Crawford County residents with a bachelor's degree or higher – just 12 percent, well below the national average of 29 percent.

Our county hardly is alone in the region when it comes to losing residents, however. Virtually all neighboring counties also are experiencing declining populations, although their rates of decline aren't as steep as Crawford County's 3.0 percent for 2010-14

For the same period, Richland County saw its population drop by 2.0 percent, Seneca by 1.9 percent, Huron by 1.5 percent and Marion and Wyandot counties by 1.2 percent. Morrow County was the exception to the rule, with a population increase of 0.9 percent over the past five years as more of its residents have used the Interstate 71 corridor to commute to jobs in Columbus.

Cuyahoga County remains the state's most populous county with 1,259,828 residents, but probably not for much longer. Franklin County, the second most populous county in the state, is gaining on it fast with 1,231,393 people.

Franklin County's population gain of 5.8 percent in 2010-14 is impressive, but it trails the 8.6 percent gain witnessed by Delaware County, its suburban neighbor to the north and the fastest-growing county in Ohio.

In terms of numeric decline, Cuyahoga County's loss of 4,009 people from 2013 to 2014 is the second worst in the country, but is nowhere near as drastic as the 11,000 people lost in Wayne County, Mich. (Detroit), during the same period.

Ohio's least populous county remains Vinton County, in southeastern Ohio, with just 13,234 residents.

Forty-nine of Ohio's 88 counties reported drops in population from 2010-14, down from 58 for 2010-13 and 66 for 2010-12, an encouraging trend. The Census Bureau estimated the Buckeye State's 2014 population at 11,594,163, up 0.2 percent from 2013 and 0.5 percent higher than 2010.

The state's lackluster growth could still have consequences in Washington, D.C., however. Since 1973, Ohio has lost eight Congressional seats. The state lost two Congressional seats after the 2010 decennial census, leaving Ohio with 16 seats.

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ