Census: Population tops 300K again in Cincinnati, surges in most suburbs

Dan Horn | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption How Cincinnati's population, makeup have changed since 1810 Since being incorporated as a village in 1802, Cincinnati’s population and racial demographics have changed. Here’s what Census records show how.

Cincinnati's population is over 300,000 for the first time in more than a decade, according to U.S. Census estimates released Thursday.

The city barely made it with an estimated population last year of 301,301, but the increase is part of a trend that has seen Cincinnati's numbers edge up each year since 2011.

The Census estimates, which come out every year, show the city's population has increased about 4,500, or 1.5 percent, since the 2010 Census.

Growth in the suburbs continued at a much faster pace, particularly on the West Side and in Northern Kentucky. Harrison, Alexandria, Independence and Harrison Township led the way with population increases of 10 percent or more since 2010.

The Cincinnati metro area, which includes 15 counties in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, grew by 3 percent between 2010 and 2017. Boone County tops the list at 9.5 percent and Hamilton County is at the bottom with 1.4 percent growth.

Despite the city's steady climb back over 300,000, the Cincinnati metro area fell one spot in the national rankings to No. 29, getting bumped by Las Vegas.

City officials and business leaders were quick to credit what they described as pro-growth policies and the resurgence of Cincinnati's urban core for the improving numbers.

"We're a city on the rise," Mayor John Cranley said. "It's a sign our turnaround is working."

The city officially slipped below 300,000 in population in 2010, when the Census counted 297,000 residents. But Census estimates showed it likely happened at least five years earlier.

A healthier economy and the return of some suburbanites to city neighborhoods, such as Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton and Oakley, reversed that downward trend, said Jill Meyer, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

"We're only at the beginning of this story," Meyer said. "We have to continue working this hard for many more years."

The population increase here pales in comparison with cities in the South and West, where Atlanta; Orlando, Florida; Denver; and Austin, Texas, all have seen double-digit percent gains since 2010.

But in the industrial East and Midwest, some consider any growth an achievement.

In Ohio, Cincinnati stacked up fairly well with other big cities. Dayton, Youngstown, Toledo and Cleveland all lost population. Columbus, with an economy less dependent on heavy industry, bucked the trend with an 11.4 percent increase.

"Many cities, especially in the Midwest, are declining," said Mark Salling, a research associate with the Northern Ohio Data and Information Service at Cleveland State University.

He said Cincinnati's population increase can mostly be chalked up to births, rather than to people rushing to move here. But given the fate of many of its peer cities in Ohio, Salling said, that's nothing to sneeze at.

"Cincinnati is doing better, so that's a good thing," he said. "It's not declining."

As usual, most of the region's growth was in the suburbs. Florence, Mason and Loveland all continued to grow at a fast clip, with populations there climbing 6 percent or more since 2010.

Warren County also continued to boom, though not as dramatically as a decade ago, when it was the fastest-growing county in Ohio.

According to the Census estimates, Warren County now ranks fourth in the state in population growth and second in the Cincinnati region behind Northern Kentucky's Boone County, where the population grew 9.5 percent.