Wayne County, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wayne County
County
The Wayne County Courthouse in September 2004
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	January 4, 1812 (date organized; formed 1808)
Named for	General Anthony Wayne
Seat	Wooster
Largest city	Wooster
Area
• Total	557 sq mi (1,440 km2)
• Land	555 sq mi (1,440 km2)
• Water	1.9 sq mi (5 km2)  0.3%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	116,894
• Estimate  (2022)	116,559
• Density	209.86/sq mi (81.03/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	7th

Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,894. Its county seat is Wooster. The county is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. 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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 557 square miles (1,440 km²), of which 555 square miles (1,440 km²) is land and 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics

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. The population density was 206.4 inhabitants per square mile (79.7 inhabitants/km²). There were 45,847 housing units at an average density of 82.6 units per square mile (31.9 units/km²). 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. In terms of ancestry, 34.1% were German, 13.3% were American, 12.9% were Irish, and 9.0% were English.

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.

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.

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. 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. There are also many Irish-Americans in the county. German-Americans have formed the largest single group in Wayne County since the late 1800s.

Education

Communities

Map of Wayne County, Ohio with municipal and township labels

Cities

• Orrville
• Rittman
• Wooster (county seat)
• Norton (mostly in Summit County)

Villages

Townships

Census-designated places

• Kidron
• New Pittsburg
• Sterling

Unincorporated communities

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Wayne (Ohio) para niños