Misplaced Pages

Lorain County
County
Old county building in Elyria
FlagSeal
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°28′N 82°09′W / 41.47°N 82.15°W / 41.47; -82.15
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	April 1, 1824
Named for	Lorraine in France
Seat	Elyria
Largest city	Lorain
Area
• Total	923 sq mi (2,390 km)
• Land	491 sq mi (1,270 km)
• Water	432 sq mi (1,120 km)  47%
Population
• Total	312,964
• Estimate	317,910
• Density	340/sq mi (130/km)
Congressional district	5th
Website	www.loraincounty.us

Lorain County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,964. Its county seat is Elyria, and its largest city is Lorain. The county was physically established in 1822, becoming judicially independent in 1824. Lorain County is part of the Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is home to Oberlin College.

History

Lorain County was established in 1822 from portions of several of its adjacent counties. This county became judicially-independent in 1824. The original proposed name for the county was "Colerain". The final name "Lorain" was chosen by Heman Ely, who had founded and named the city of Elyria. The county's name is based on the former German and now French province of Lorraine.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of 923 square miles (2,390 km), of which 491 square miles (1,270 km) is land and 432 square miles (1,120 km) (47%) is water. It is Ohio's fourth-largest county by area.

Adjacent counties

• Cuyahoga County (east)
• Medina County (southeast)
• Ashland County (south)
• Huron County (southwest)
• Erie County (northwest)

Major highways

• Interstate 80 (Ohio Turnpike)
• Interstate 90 (Ohio Turnpike)
• Interstate 480
• U.S. Route 6
• U.S. Route 20
• State Route 2
• State Route 10
• State Route 18
• State Route 57
• State Route 58
• Ohio Route 82
• Ohio Route 83
• State Route 113
• Ohio Route 162
• Ohio Route 252
• Ohio Route 254
• Ohio Route 301
• Ohio Route 303
• Ohio Route 511
• Ohio Route 611

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 301,356 people, 116,274 households, and 80,077 families residing in the county. The population density was 613.6 inhabitants per square mile (236.9/km). There were 127,036 housing units at an average density of 258.7 per square mile (99.9/km). The racial makeup of the county was 84.8% white, 8.6% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 2.5% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.5% were German, 16.7% were Irish, 10.9% were English, 8.4% were Polish, 8.2% were Italian, 6.2% were American, and 5.2% were Hungarian.

Of the 116,274 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.1% were non-families, and 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age was 40.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $52,066 and the median income for a family was $62,082. Males had a median income of $49,146 versus $35,334 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,002. About 10.3% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Higher education

• Lorain County Community College, Elyria
• Oberlin College, Oberlin

Public school districts

There are 20 public school districts in Lorain County. Those primarily in Lorain County are listed in bold. Each district's high school(s) and location is also listed.

• Amherst Exempted Village School District
  • Amherst Marion L. Steele High School, Amherst
• Avon Local School District
  • Avon High School, Avon
• Avon Lake City School District
  • Avon Lake High School, Avon Lake
• Black River Local School District (also in Medina Co and Ashland Co.)
  • Black River High School, Sullivan
• Clearview Local School District
  • Clearview High School, Lorain
• Columbia Local School District
  • Columbia High School, Columbia Station
• Elyria City School District
  • Elyria High School, Elyria
• Firelands Local School District (also in Erie Co.)
  • Firelands High School, Henrietta Twp (Oberlin)
• Keystone Local School District
  • Keystone High School, LaGrange
• Lorain City School District
  • Lorain High School, Lorain
• Mapleton Local School District (Primarily in Ashland Co.)
  • Mapleton High School, Ashland
• Midview Local School District
  • Midview High School, Eaton Twp (Grafton)
• New London Local School District (primarily in Huron Co.)
  • New London High School, New London
• North Ridgeville City School District
  • North Ridgeville High School, North Ridgeville
• Oberlin City School District
  • Oberlin High School, Oberlin
• Olmsted Falls City Schools (primarily in Cuyahoga Co.)
  • Olmsted Falls High School, Olmsted Falls
• Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City School District
  • Brookside High School, Sheffield
• Strongsville City School District (primarily in Cuyahoga Co.)
  • Strongsville High School, Strongsville
• Vermilion Local Schools (primarily in Erie Co.)
  • Vermilion High School, Vermilion
• Wellington Exempted Village School District (also in Huron Co.)
  • Wellington High School, Wellington

The county also includes the Lorain County Joint Vocational School District, which encompasses the entire county and serves students from the Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Clearview, Columbia, Elyria, Firelands, Keystone, Midview, North Ridgeville, Oberlin, Sheffield-Sheffield Lake and Wellington school districts from a 10-acre campus on a 100-acre site near the intersection of State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20 in Oberlin.

Private high schools

• Elyria Catholic High School, Elyria
• Lake Ridge Academy, North Ridgeville
• Open Door Christian School, Elyria
• Christian Community School, North Eaton
• First Baptist Christian School, Elyria

Government

As of 2024, the following county-wide elected officials are in office:

Politics

Lorain County used to lean Democratic in recent presidential elections, voting for the Democratic candidate for president in 12 of the last 16 elections, including a winning streak that lasted from 1988 to 2016. In 2016, however, the county was almost swept up as part of the unexpected Republican surge in the Rust Belt; Donald Trump came within 131 votes of being the first Republican to capture the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984. In 2020, Trump flipped the county Republican by a narrow majority. In 2024, Trump won the county with 52.12% of the vote, the highest percentage for a Republican since 1972.

Communities

Cities

• Amherst
• Avon
• Avon Lake
• Elyria (county seat)
• Lorain
• North Ridgeville
• Oberlin
• Sheffield Lake
• Vermilion

Villages

• Grafton
• Kipton
• LaGrange
• Rochester
• Sheffield
• South Amherst
• Wellington

Townships

• Amherst
• Brighton
• Brownhelm
• Camden
• Carlisle
• Columbia
• Eaton
• Elyria
• Grafton
• Henrietta
• Huntington
• LaGrange
• New Russia
• Penfield
• Pittsfield
• Rochester
• Sheffield
• Wellington

Census-designated places

• Eaton Estates
• Pheasant Run

Unincorporated communities

• Belden
• Brentwood Lake
• Brighton
• Columbia Hills Corners
• Columbia Station
• Henrietta
• North Eaton
• Pittsfield
• Whiskyville

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lorain County, Ohio
• USS Lorain County (LST-1177)

References

1. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 190.
2. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
4. "Ohio: Individual County Chronologies". Ohio Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2007. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
5. "Lorain County - Ohio History Central". ohiohistorycentral.org. Ohio History Connection. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
6. Sandusky Register (newspaper); Sandusky, Ohio, 1822
7. Wright, George Frederick (1916). A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs. Lewis publishing Company. pp. 625–627.
8. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
9. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021". Retrieved July 7, 2022.
10. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
11. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
12. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
13. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
14. ^ "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
15. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
16. "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
17. "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
18. JVS. "Lorain County JVS - About the Lorain County JVS". www.lcjvs.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
19. https://www.loraincountyohio.gov/376/County-Elected-Officials
20. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

External links

• Lorain County Government's website
• Lorain County Sheriff's Office
• Lorain County Historical Society's website
• Lorain County History Project

v t e Places adjacent to Lorain County, Ohio
Erie County Lake Erie Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario Cuyahoga County Lorain County, Ohio Huron County Ashland County Medina County

v t e Municipalities and communities of Lorain County, Ohio, United States
County seat: Elyria
Cities	Amherst Avon Avon Lake Elyria Lorain North Ridgeville Oberlin Sheffield Lake Vermilion‡
Villages	Grafton Kipton LaGrange Rochester Sheffield South Amherst Wellington
Townships	Amherst Brighton Brownhelm Camden Carlisle Columbia Eaton Elyria Grafton Henrietta Huntington LaGrange New Russia Penfield Pittsfield Rochester Sheffield Wellington
CDPs	Eaton Estates Pheasant Run
Unincorporated communities	Belden Brentwood Lake Brighton Columbia Hills Corners North Eaton Whiskyville
Ghost town	Murraysville
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Ohio portal United States portal

v t e State of Ohio
Columbus (capital)
Topics	Outline Climate change Geography Government administrative divisions congressional delegations elections History Law People Symbols motto Tourist attractions Portal
Society	Abortion Culture Crime Demographics African Americans Economy Education colleges and universities Gun laws Homelessness LGBT rights Politics Sports
Regions	Allegheny Plateau Appalachian Ohio The Bluegrass Glacial till plains Great Black Swamp Lake Erie (List of Lake Erie Islands) Mahoning Valley Miami Valley Northeast Ohio Northwest Ohio Vacationland Western Reserve
Metro areas	Akron Canton Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dayton Huntington–Ashland Lima Mansfield Sandusky Steubenville Toledo Youngstown–Warren
Largest cities	Akron Canton Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Cuyahoga Falls Dayton Dublin Elyria Euclid Hamilton Kettering Lakewood Lorain Middletown Newark Parma Springfield Toledo Youngstown
Counties	Adams Allen Ashland Ashtabula Athens Auglaize Belmont Brown Butler Carroll Champaign Clark Clermont Clinton Columbiana Coshocton Crawford Cuyahoga Darke Defiance Delaware Erie Fairfield Fayette Franklin Fulton Gallia Geauga Greene Guernsey Hamilton Hancock Hardin Harrison Henry Highland Hocking Holmes Huron Jackson Jefferson Knox Lake Lawrence Licking Logan Lorain Lucas Madison Mahoning Marion Medina Meigs Mercer Miami Monroe Montgomery Morgan Morrow Muskingum Noble Ottawa Paulding Perry Pickaway Pike Portage Preble Putnam Richland Ross Sandusky Scioto Seneca Shelby Stark Summit Trumbull Tuscarawas Union Van Wert Vinton Warren Washington Wayne Williams Wood Wyandot
Ohio portal

41°28′N 82°09′W / 41.47°N 82.15°W / 41.47; -82.15

• Ohio counties
• Lorain County, Ohio
• 1824 establishments in Ohio
• Populated places established in 1824