Cuyahoga County suffered the worst population loss among Ohio counties from 2017 to 2018. The county lost more than 4,500 people.

Cuyahoga County remains the second most populous county in Ohio, behind only Franklin County. Cuyahoga currently has 1.243 million residents, according to the U.S. Census. Ohio's largest counties — Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Hamilton — experienced vastly different years. Franklin gained nearly 14,600 residents last year, while Hamilton had a more modest population growth of about 2,000 residents.

Were Cuyahoga County's problems endemic to all of Northeast Ohio? It doesn't seem so. Neighboring counties like Lorain, Geauga and Summit all gained residents. Why do you think residents are leaving Cuyahoga County? Tell us in the comments or leave us a note on social media.



The National Trends The southern and western United States are home to the counties that experienced the largest increases in population, according to new 2018 estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau said four of the top 10 counties for population growth were in Texas. Just over 55 percent of all U.S. counties had a population gain from 2017 to 2018. And while nearly 56 percent of U.S. counties had a natural increase in population in 2018, that figure was down from the previous year.

On the metro level, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area had the largest numeric growth in population, followed by the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area. A natural increase in population — having more births than deaths — was the largest source of population growth in the Dallas area while domestic migration was the largest source for the Phoenix area, the Census Bureau said.

"One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous are ranked in the top 10 for population growth," Sandra Johnson, a demographer at the Census Bureau, said in a press release. According to the Census, the top 10 most populous counties for 2018 are: