Wayne County, Ohio: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 19:40, 23 April 2025

Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Wayne County is a county located in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,894.<ref name="2020 census">2020 census</ref> Its county seat is Wooster.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Wayne County comprises the Wooster, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Wayne County as it exists today was described in legislation in 1808 but was not formally organized until January 1812, with effect from March 1. An earlier Wayne County, created by the government of the Northwest Territory in 1796, included much of northern Ohio and all of the lower peninsula of Michigan. That Wayne County is now part of Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Benjamin Douglass, 'History of Wayne County, Ohio, from the Days of the Pioneers and First Settlers to the Present Time'. Indianapolis, IN: Robert Douglass, 1878, pp 53-54.</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.3%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Adjacent counties

Medina County (north)
Summit County (northeast)
Stark County (east)
Holmes County (south)
Ashland County (west)

Demographics

Template:US Census population

2000 census

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 111,564 people, 40,445 households, and 29,484 families living in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 42,324 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 96.52% White, 1.57% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 0.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 31.7% were of German, 13.9% American, 9.6% Irish, 9.0% English and 5.5% Swiss ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.5% spoke English, 3.2% German, 1.6% Dutch, 1.5% Pennsylvania Dutch and 1.2% Spanish as their first language.

There were 40,445 households, out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.80% were married couples living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 22.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.40% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,538, and the median income for a family was $48,294. Males had a median income of $33,976 versus $23,203 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,330. About 5.40% of families and 8.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.60% of those under age 18 and 6.90% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 114,520 people, 42,638 households, and 30,070 families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 45,847 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 95.7% white, 1.5% black or African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.6% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 34.1% were German, 13.3% were American, 12.9% were Irish, and 9.0% were English.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 42,638 households, 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families, and 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.13. The median age was 38.3 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $48,375 and the median income for a family was $59,692. Males had a median income of $42,082 versus $29,623 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,645. About 7.8% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ancestry

There were several large waves of migration into what it is today Wayne County, Ohio. The first wave was groups of families from New England, migrating westward into what was then the Northwest Territory and then early statehood era Ohio between the 1790s and the 1820s. Most of the settlers who arrived in what would become Wayne County at that time were from New England. They were overwhelmingly Congregationalists, however, in the 1810s several arrived who had become Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians during the Second Great Awakening. These groups were of English ancestry, being descended from the English Puritans who arrived in colonial New England during the 1620s and 1630s. The English-descended "Yankee" New Englanders established the county in 1812. The second large migration was German immigrants, the Germans settled in Wayne County in large numbers between the 1820s and the 1880s, forming a steady stream of migration into the county during that time. These immigrants were almost exclusively Lutheran. Lastly in the early 1850s a large group of Irish immigrants arrived in the county as part of a large wave of migration entering the United States at that time. This group was overwhelmingly Catholic. Many families currently in Wayne County go back to the early 19th century settlement of the county by New Englanders.<ref>Frontier Justice: Wayne County 1796-1836 - Elizabeth Gaspar Brown - The American Journal of Legal History -Vol. 16, No. 2 (Apr. 1972), pp. 126-153</ref> Today, many of these same people who cite that they are of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent, however, they have families that have been in the state so long, in many cases since the colonial period, that they choose to identify simply as having "American" ancestry or do not, in fact, know their own ancestry. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original Thirteen Colonies and for this reason many of them today simply claim "American" ancestry, though they are of predominantly English ancestry.<ref>Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America Template:Webarchive By Dominic J. Pulera.</ref><ref>Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites', Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.</ref> There are also many Irish-Americans in the county. German-Americans have formed the largest single group in Wayne County since the late 1800s.

Politics

Government

Template:See also The Wayne County Public Library serves the communities of Wayne County, Ohio from its administrative offices in Wooster, Ohio and branches in Creston, Dalton, Doylestown, Rittman, Shreve, and West Salem.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also offers bookmobile service and outreach program, and patron can use the extended services of CLEVNET, a group of libraries located in northeast Ohio.

In 2005, the library loaned more than 1.2 million items to its 54,000 cardholders.<ref name="OHLibStats">Template:Cite web</ref> Total holding are over 340,000 volumes with over 900 periodical subscriptions.<ref name="OHLibStats2">Template:Cite web</ref>