Population drastically declines in Ohio cities

Ohio's major cities continued their drastic decline during the past decade, a sign that hard times are not easing in the industrial heartland.

Places that once prospered from making things — steel, tires, cash registers, bikes — continued a free-fall that started half a century ago and may be getting worse, according to Census Bureau population numbers released Wednesday.

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton and Akron all suffered huge population declines from 2000 to 2010.

Cleveland lost 17% of its population to fall to 396,815 — its fewest inhabitants since 1900. The city peaked in 1950 at 914,808. More residents abandoned the city from 2000 to 2010 than in the 1990s.

Nearby suburbs shrank, too, although some growth occurred in distant suburbs.

"These trends are much bigger than government can do anything about," says Cleveland State University demographer Mark Salling.

Unlike cities in other states, Ohio's cities are gaining few Hispanic residents, Brookings Institution demographer William Frey says.

The sole exception to the declining fortunes of Ohio cities was Columbus. The state capital and home of Ohio State University grew 11% in the decade and is twice as big as Cleveland.

Overall, Ohio's population grew 1.6% to 11,536,504 — far below the national rate of 9.7%. The troubles in what was once among the nation's biggest and most prosperous states — birthplace of seven presidents — are causing major political and economic upheaval.

Ohio will lose two congressional seats in 2012. Republicans will control redistricting and expect to eliminate two Democratic Congress members from the industrial belt in northern Ohio, says former Ohio Republican Party chairman Bob Bennett.

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Cleveland mayor, will almost certainly have his district abolished, Bennett says. Other Democratic districts will be combined.

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Some Democratic voters will go into Republican districts, making elections more competitive, Bennett says.

"We can protect all the Republican districts, but will all the Republicans have solidly Republican districts? Probably not," he says.

Ohio's economic change is as dramatic as its political realignment.

The state lost 600,000 private sector jobs from 2000 to 2010 — two-thirds of them well-paid manufacturing jobs. Overall, the percentage of Ohio residents that were working fell from 50% in 2000 to 44% in 2010.

Only government employment remained stable. The state's growth is increasingly centered on state government, higher education and other businesses near Columbus.