Lorain County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,964.^[2] Its county seat is Elyria, and its largest city is Lorain.^[3]

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Lorain County
County
Old county building in Elyria
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°28′N 82°09′W
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	April 1, 1824
Named for	Lorraine in France[1]
Seat	Elyria
Largest city	Lorain
Area
• Total	923 sq mi (2,390 km2)
• Land	491 sq mi (1,270 km2)
• Water	432 sq mi (1,120 km2)  47%
Population  (2020)
• Total	312,964
• Estimate  (2021)	315,595
• Density	340/sq mi (130/km2)
Congressional district	5th
Website	www.loraincounty.us

Close

The county was physically established in 1822, becoming judicially independent in 1824.^[4] Lorain County is part of the Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is home to Oberlin College.

Lorain County was established in 1822 from portions of several of its adjacent counties.^[5] This county became judicially-independent in 1824. The original proposed name for the county was "Colerain".^[6] The final name "Lorain" was chosen by Heman Ely, who had previously founded and named the city of Elyria. The county's name is based on the former German and now French province of Lorraine.^[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of 923 square miles (2,390 km²), of which 491 square miles (1,270 km²) is land and 432 square miles (1,120 km²) (47%) is water.^[8] It is Ohio's fourth-largest county by area.

As of the 2010 census, there were 301,356 people, 116,274 households, and 80,077 families residing in the county.^[14] The population density was 613.6 inhabitants per square mile (236.9/km²). There were 127,036 housing units at an average density of 258.7 per square mile (99.9/km²).^[15] The racial makeup of the county was 84.8% white, 8.6% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 2.5% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.4% of the population.^[14] In terms of ancestry, 26.5% were German, 16.7% were Irish, 10.9% were English, 8.4% were Polish, 8.2% were Italian, 6.2% were American, and 5.2% were Hungarian.^[16]

Of the 116,274 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.1% were non-families, and 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age was 40.0 years.^[14]

The median income for a household in the county was $52,066 and the median income for a family was $62,082. Males had a median income of $49,146 versus $35,334 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,002. About 10.3% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.^[17]

Lorain County used to lean Democratic in recent presidential elections, voting for the Democratic candidate for president in 12 of the last 16 elections, including a winning streak that lasted from 1988 to 2016. In 2016, however, the county was almost swept up as part of the unexpected Republican surge in the Rust Belt; Donald Trump came within 131 votes of being the first Republican to capture the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Four years later, he flipped the county Republican by a narrow majority.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lorain County, Ohio
• USS Lorain County (LST-1177)