Summit_County,_Ohio

Summit County, Ohio

Summit County is an urban county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 542,899. In 2007 the population was estimated to be 543,487 . Its county seat is Akron. It is named because the highest elevation on the Ohio and Erie Canal was located here.

Summit County is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Government

Main article: Ohio county government

Summit County is the only county of the 88 in Ohio that has a charter government, as authorized by the Article X of the Ohio Constitution. Under its charter, rather than three elected commissioners, Summit County has an elected County Executive and an eleven member County Council. Summit County also has an appointed Medical Examiner rather than an elected Coroner, and an elected Fiscal Officer, who exercises the powers and performs the duties of a county auditor, treasurer and recorder. The remaining officials are similar to the officials in other counties. They include the following:

Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas (elected)
Prosecuting Attorney (elected)
Engineer (elected)
Sheriff (elected)

County Executives

John E. Morgan, 1981-1989
Tim Davis, 1989-2001
James B. McCarthy, 2001-2007
Russell M. Pry, 2007-Present

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 420 square miles (1,088 km²): 413 square miles (1,069 km²) land, and 7 square miles (19 km²) (1.75%) water. The largest portion of Cuyahoga Valley National Park is located in the northern part of the county.

Major Highways

Adjacent Counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 542,899 people, 217,788 households, and 144,611 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,315 people per square mile (508/km²). There were 230,880 housing units at an average density of 559 per square mile (216/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 83.50% White, 13.19% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.41% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 1.39% from two or more races. 0.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 20.3% were of German, 10.1% Irish, 9.2% Italian, 8.2% English and 7.9% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.6% spoke English and 1.2% Spanish as their first language.

There were 217,788 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.10% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,304, and the median income for a family was $52,200. Males had a median income of $40,117 versus $26,831 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,842. About 7.50% of families and 9.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.00% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.