Ohio — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|U.S. state}} {{about|the U.S. state}} {{pp-move}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date= February 2025}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox U.S. state | name = Ohio | image_flag = Flag of Ohio.svg | flag_border = no | flag_link = Flag of Ohio | image_seal = Seal of Ohio (B&W).svg | seal_link = Seal of Ohio | image_map = Ohio in United States.svg | nicknames = The Buckeye State; Birthplace of Aviation; The Heart of It All | motto = "With God, all things are possible"<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio's State Motto|publisher=Ohio Historical Society|date=July 1, 2005|url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1885|access-date=March 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006062224/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1885|archive-date=October 6, 2007}}</ref> | anthem = "Beautiful Ohio"<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> center | seat = Columbus<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio Quick Facts|publisher=Ohio Historical Society|url=https://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohio_quick_facts.php|access-date=March 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208222032/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohio_quick_facts.php|archive-date=February 8, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=City of Columbus: Fun Facts |publisher=City of Columbus, Ohio |year=2006 |url=http://home.columbus.gov/GenInfo/index.asp |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501070353/http://home.columbus.gov/GenInfo/index.asp |archive-date=May 1, 2009 }}</ref> | LargestCity = capital | LargestMetro = Greater Cleveland (combined and urban) Cincinnati (metro) Columbus (metro) (see footnotes){{efn|According to the U.S. Census,<ref>[https://www.census.gov July 2017 Annual Estimate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227012639/https://www.census.gov/ |date=December 27, 1996 }}</ref> Greater Columbus is the largest Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) that is ''entirely within'' Ohio, with a population of 2,078,725; and Greater Cincinnati is the largest MSA that is ''at least partially'' within Ohio, with a population of 2,179,082, approximately 25% of which is in Indiana or Kentucky. Which MSA is the largest ''in Ohio'' depends on the context.}} | Languages = English 93.3% Spanish 2.2% Other 4.5%<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov" /> | population_demonym = Ohioan; Buckeye<ref name="Why is Ohio known as the Buckeye State and why are Ohioans known as Buckeyes-1998"/> (colloq.) | Governor = {{nowrap|Mike DeWine (R)}} | Lieutenant Governor = {{nowrap|Jim Tressel (R)}} | Legislature = General Assembly | Upperhouse = Senate | Lowerhouse = House of Representatives | Judiciary = Supreme Court of Ohio | Senators = {{nowrap|Bernie Moreno (R)}} {{nowrap|Jon Husted (R)}} | Representative = 10 Republicans 5 Democrats | TradAbbreviation = O., Oh. | postal_code = OH<ref>{{cite web |title=Official USPS Abbreviations |publisher=United States Postal Service |year=1998 |url= https://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/ sps_abbreviations.html |access-date= March 26, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090328210335/https://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_abbreviations.html |archive-date= March 28, 2009}}</ref> | OfficialLang = ''De jure'': None ''De facto'': English | area_rank = 34th | area_total_sq_mi = 44,825 | area_total_km2 = 116,096 | area_land_sq_mi = 40,948 | area_land_km2 = 106,156 | area_water_sq_mi = 3,877 | area_water_km2 = 10,040 | area_water_percent = 8.7 | population_rank = 7th | population_as_of = 2025 | 2020Pop = {{IncreaseNeutral}} 11,900,510<ref name="United States Census Quick Facts Ohio" /> | population_density_rank = 10th | 2020DensityUS = 282 | 2020Density = 109 | MedianHouseholdIncome = ${{round|67769|-2}} (2023)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/acsbr-023.pdf|title=Household Income in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2023|access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref> | IncomeRank = 36th |Former = Northwest Territory | AdmittanceOrder = 17th, declared retroactively on {{Start date and age|1953|8|7}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The Admission of Ohio as a State |publisher=United States House of Representatives |url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-admission-of-Ohio-as-a-state/ |access-date=November 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110193143/https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-admission-of-Ohio-as-a-state/ |archive-date=November 10, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> | AdmittanceDate = {{Start date and age|1803|3|1}}<ref name="Mary Stockwell-2006" /> | timezone1 = Eastern | utc_offset1 = −05:00 | timezone1_DST = EDT | utc_offset1_DST = −04:00 | Latitude = 38°24′ N to 41°59′ N | Longitude = 80°31′ W to 84°49′ W | width_mi = 220 | width_km = 355 | length_mi = 220 | length_km = 355 | elevation_max_point = Campbell Hill<ref name="United States Geological Survey-2001">{{cite web |url=http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |title=Elevations and Distances in the United States |publisher=United States Geological Survey |year=2001 |access-date=October 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722022527/http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archive-date=July 22, 2012 }}</ref>{{efn|name=NAVD88|Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988}} | elevation_max_ft = 1,549 | elevation_max_m = 472 | elevation_ft = 850 | elevation_m = 260 | elevation_min_point = Ohio River at {{nowrap|Indiana border}}<ref name="United States Geological Survey-2001"/>{{efn|name=NAVD88}} | elevation_min_ft = 455 | elevation_min_m = 139 | iso_code = US-OH | website = https://ohio.gov | Representatives = }} {{Infobox region symbols|country=United States | state = Ohio | image_flag = Flag of Ohio.svg | image_flag_border = no | image_seal = Seal of Ohio (B&W).svg | image_arms = Coat of arms of Ohio.svg | amphibian = Spotted salamander | bird = Cardinal (1933)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | butterfly = | crustacean = | fish = | flower = {{ubl|Red carnation (1904)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> |Great white trillium (1986)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> (wildflower)}} | grass = |insect = Ladybug (1975)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> |mammal = White-tailed deer (1987)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden">{{cite web |title= Ohio's State Symbols |publisher= Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden |url= http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/children/symbols.aspx| access-date= March 26, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090423055259/http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/children/symbols.aspx |archive-date= April 23, 2009 |url-status= live}}</ref> | reptile = Black racer snake (1995)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | tree = Buckeye (1953)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | beverage = Tomato juice (1965)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | colors = | dance = | dinosaur = | firearm = | food = | fossil = ''Isotelus maximus'', a trilobite (1985)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | gemstone = Ohio flint (1965)<ref name="Ohio Governor's Residence and State Garden" /> | instrument = | mineral = | poem = | rock = | shell = | ship = | slogan = ''The Heart Of It All'' | soil = | sport = | tartan = | toy = | fruit = Pawpaw | image_route = OH-7.svg | image_quarter = 2002 OH Proof.png | quarter_release_date = 2002 }}

'''Ohio''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Ohio.ogg|oʊ|ˈ|h|aɪ|.|oʊ}} {{respell|oh|HY|oh}})<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Ohio|accessdate=2024-03-08}}</ref> is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Canadian province of Ontario to the north (through Lake Erie), Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the west, and Michigan to the northwest. Ohio is the 34th-largest state by area, at {{cvt|44825|sqmi|km2}}, and the seventh-most populous state, with a population of nearly 11.9 million. Its capital and most populous city is Columbus, with other major metropolitan cities including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, and Toledo.

Ohio derives its name from the Ohio River that forms its southern border, which, in turn, originated from the Seneca word ''{{Lang|see|ohiːyo'}}'', meaning "good river", "great river", or "large creek".<ref>{{cite web |title=Quick Facts About the State of Ohio |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohio_quick_facts.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127153916/http://ohiohistorycentral.org/ohio_quick_facts.php |archive-date=November 27, 2010 |access-date=July 2, 2010 |publisher=Ohio History Central |quote=From Iroquois word meaning 'great river'}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanindianstudies.osu.edu/ohio.cfm |title=Native Ohio |access-date=February 25, 2007 |website=American Indian Studies |publisher=Ohio State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202230727/http://americanindianstudies.osu.edu/ohio.cfm |archive-date=February 2, 2007 |quote=Ohio comes from the Seneca (Iroquoian) ohiiyo' 'good river' }}</ref> Its geography is varied, with rolling glaciated plains across most of the state, rugged unglaciated hills in the southeastern Allegheny Plateau, and Lake Erie coastline to the north. At the time of European contact, the area known as the Ohio Country was inhabited by Algonquian and Iroquoian nations, and was contested among Native American tribes, Britain, and France. Following American independence, Ohio was organized as part of the Northwest Territory and achieved statehood in 1803. Ohio was the first state admitted under the Northwest Ordinance and the first post-colonial free state admitted to the union.<ref name="Mary Stockwell-2006">{{cite book |author=Mary Stockwell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJKroULBUpgC&pg=PA88 |title=Ohio Adventure |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4236-2382-3 |page=88 |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331200155/http://books.google.com/books?id=VJKroULBUpgC |archive-date=March 31, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William M. Davidson|title=A History of the United States |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryuniteds08unkngoog |year=1902|publisher=Scott, Foresman and Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/ahistoryuniteds08unkngoog/page/n294 265]|access-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref>

Ohio is one of the nation's leading manufacturing states and has historically been known as the heart of American industry; although Ohio has shifted to a more information and service-based economy in the 21st century, it ranks seventh in GDP {{As of|2025|lc=y}},<ref>{{cite web |title=SAGDP1 State annual gross domestic product (GDP) |url=https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state |website=www.apps.bea.gov |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) |date=9 April 2026 |access-date=15 April 2026}}</ref> with the third-largest manufacturing sector and second-largest automobile production.<ref>{{cite web |last=Girardi-Schachter |first=Taylor |date=September 3, 2019 |title=Top 10 States For Manufacturing 2019 |url=https://www.globaltrademag.com/top-10-states-for-manufacturing-2019/ |access-date=December 31, 2019 |website=Global Trade Magazine |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203150536/https://www.globaltrademag.com/top-10-states-for-manufacturing-2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The state also has a large agriculture sector. Tourism in Ohio is driven by attractions such as Cedar Point, the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as recreation areas including Cuyahoga Valley National Park and 76 state parks. Ohio is nicknamed the "Buckeye State" after its Ohio buckeye trees.<ref name="Why is Ohio known as the Buckeye State and why are Ohioans known as Buckeyes-1998">{{cite web |date=November 1998 |title=Why is Ohio known as the Buckeye State and why are Ohioans known as Buckeyes? |url=https://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/portals/forestry/pdfs/buckeyestate.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412012307/https://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/portals/forestry/pdfs/buckeyestate.pdf |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> It is also known as the "Mother of Presidents", having been the birthplace of seven U.S. presidents,<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio Presidents – Ohio Secretary of State |url=https://www.ohiosos.gov/profile-ohio/people/ohio-presidents/ |access-date=December 28, 2020|website=Ohiosos.gov |archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121044026/https://www.ohiosos.gov/profile-ohio/people/ohio-presidents/}}</ref> and the "Birthplace of Aviation", as the Wright brothers designed and built the world's first successful airplane in Ohio before its first flight in North Carolina.<ref name=OH>{{cite web |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/06/14/loc_ohioflight14.html |title=It's official: Ohio IS the birthplace of aviation |access-date=April 6, 2007 |date=June 14, 2003 |publisher=The Cincinnati Enquirer }}{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} ==History== {{main|Prehistory of Ohio|History of Ohio}}

===Indigenous settlement=== [[File:Sunwatch Aerial illustration HRoe 2018 400px.jpg|thumb|Artist's conception of the Fort Ancient culture SunWatch Indian Village in present-day Dayton, Ohio]]

Archeological evidence of spear points of both the Folsom and Clovis types indicate that the Ohio Valley was inhabited by nomadic people as early as 13,000 BC.<ref name="Knepper">Knepper (1989), p. 9.</ref> These early nomads disappeared from Ohio by 1,000 BC.<ref name="Knepper" /> Between 1,000 and 800 BC, the sedentary Adena culture emerged. The Adena established "semi-permanent" villages because they domesticated plants, including sunflowers, and "grew squash and possibly corn"; with hunting and gathering, this cultivation supported more settled, complex villages.<ref name="Knepper-2">Knepper (1989), p. 10.</ref> The most notable remnant of the Adena culture is the Great Serpent Mound, located in Adams County, Ohio.<ref name="Knepper-2" />

Around 100 BC, the Adena evolved into the Hopewell tradition, who were also mound builders. Their complex, large and technologically sophisticated earthworks can be found in modern-day Marietta, Newark, and Circleville.<ref>Knepper (1989), p. 11.</ref> They were also a prolific trading society, their trading network spanning a third of the continent.<ref>Douglas T. Price; Gary M. Feinman (2008). Images of the Past, 5th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 274–277.</ref> The Hopewell disappeared from the Ohio Valley about 600 AD. The Mississippian culture rose as the Hopewell culture declined. Many Siouan-speaking peoples from the plains and east coast claim them as ancestors and say they lived throughout the Ohio region until approximately the 13th century.<ref name="Knepper-3">Knepper (1989), p. 13.</ref>

There were three other cultures contemporaneous with the Mississippians: the Fort Ancient people, the Whittlesey culture<ref name="Knepper-3" /> and the Monongahela Culture.<ref>"Monongahela culture-AD 1050–1635". Fort Hill Archeology. Retrieved January 14, 2010.</ref> All three disappeared in the 17th century. Their origins are unknown. The Shawnees may have absorbed the Fort Ancient people.<ref name="Knepper-3" /> It is also possible that the Monongahela held no land in Ohio during the Colonial Era. The Mississippian culture was close to and traded extensively with the Fort Ancient people.

[[File:5NationsExpansion.jpg|thumb|Iroquois conquests during the Beaver Wars (mid-1600s), which largely depopulated the upper and mid-Ohio River valley]]

Indians in the Ohio Valley were greatly affected by the aggressive tactics of the Iroquois Confederation, based in central and western New York.<ref>Knepper (1989), p. 14.</ref> After the Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century, the Iroquois claimed much of the Ohio country as hunting and, more importantly, beaver-trapping ground. The land gradually became repopulated by Algonquian people following a series of epidemics and war in the mid-17th century. Many of these nations were multi-ethnic (sometimes multi-linguistic) societies born out of the earlier devastation brought about by disease,{{clarify|reason=no disease has been mentioned yet|date=January 2019}} war, and subsequent social instability. They subsisted on agriculture supplemented by seasonal hunts. By the 18th century, they were part of a larger global economy brought about by European entry into the fur trade.<ref>Roseboom (1967), p. 20.</ref>

Some of the Indigenous nations that historically inhabited Ohio include the Iroquoian,{{efn|Petun, Erie, Chonnonton, Wyandot, the Mingo Seneca and the Iroquois Confederacy}} the Algonquian,{{efn|Miami, Mascouten Lenape Shawnee and Odawa}} and the Siouan.{{efn|Mosopelea}}<ref>louis, franquelin, jean baptiste. "Franquelin's map of Louisiana". LOC.gov. Retrieved August 17, 2017.</ref><ref>Knepper (1989), pp. 14–17.</ref> The region was also the site of Indian massacres, such as the Yellow Creek massacre and the Gnadenhutten massacre.<ref>Knepper (1989), pp. 43–44.</ref> After the War of 1812, when Natives suffered serious losses such as the Battle of Tippecanoe, most Native tribes either left Ohio or had to live on only limited reservations. By 1842, all remaining Natives were forced out of the state.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Indians - Ohio History Central |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/American_Indians |website=ohiohistorycentral.org |access-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229222444/http://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/American_Indians }}</ref>

===Colonial and Revolutionary eras=== {{see also|Ohio Country|Western theater of the American Revolutionary War}}

During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region, which was known as the Ohio Country. Beginning in 1754, France and Britain fought the French and Indian War, with various Native American tribes on each side. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the remainder of the Old Northwest to Britain in 1763.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wars and Battles: Treaty of Paris (1763) |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h754.html |publisher=www.u-s-history.com |access-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-date=December 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204235607/http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h754.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the 1760s and 70s, Britain thinly exercised sovereignty over the Ohio Country by stationing small garrisons in the region.{{efn|The last French fort in the Ohio Country, Fort Sandusky, was destroyed in 1763 during Pontiac's War.}} Just beyond Ohio Country was the Miami people capital of Kekionga, which became the center of British trade and influence in Ohio Country and throughout the future Northwest Territory. By the Royal Proclamation of 1763, lands west of Appalachia were closed to settlement by Anglo-American colonists.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Billington|first=Ray A.|title=The Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768 |journal=New York History |year=1944 |volume=25 |issue=2 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press|pages=182–194|jstor=23147791}}</ref> The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 explicitly reserved lands north and west of the Ohio as Native lands.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sosin|first=Jack M.|title=Whitehall and the wilderness: the Middle West in British colonial policy, 1760–1775 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aaMzwgEACAAJ&pg=PA146|year=1961|publisher=Cornell University Press|page=146|access-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-date=January 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118044200/https://books.google.com/books?id=aaMzwgEACAAJ&pg=PA146 |url-status=live}}</ref> A new set of British policies towards the region's tribes led to the outbreak of Pontiac's War in 1763.<ref>{{cite book |last=White|first=Richard|title=The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815|isbn=0-521-42460-7 |year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=256}}</ref>

Ohio tribes participated in the war until an armed expedition in Ohio led by Brigadier General Henry Bouquet brought about a truce. Another colonial military expedition into the Ohio Country in 1774 brought Lord Dunmore's War, kicked off by the Yellow Creek massacre in Ohio, to a conclusion. In 1774, Britain passed the Quebec Act, which formally annexed Ohio and other western lands to the Province of Quebec in order to provide a civil government and to centralize British administration of the Montreal-based fur trade.<ref>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/quebecact00hartgoog/page/n22 12]|title=The Quebec Act 1774|url=https://archive.org/details/quebecact00hartgoog|author=Gerald E. Hart|year=1891|publisher=Gazette Printing Company |location=Montreal}}</ref> The prohibition of settlement west of the Appalachians remained, contributing to the American Revolution.<ref>Gordon Wood, ''The American Revolution'' (New York: Random House, 2002).</ref>

By the start of the American Revolutionary War, the movement of Natives and Americans between the Ohio Country and Thirteen Colonies had resulted in tension. Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania had become the main fort where expeditions into Ohio started. Intrusions into the area included General Edward Hand's 1778 movement of 500 Pennsylvania militiamen from Fort Pitt towards Mingo towns on the Cuyahoga River, where the British stored military supplies which they distributed to Indian raiding parties;<ref>Downes, ''Council Fires'', 211; Nester, ''Frontier War'', 194; Nelson, ''Man of Distinction'', 101.</ref> Colonel Daniel Brodhead's invasion in 1780 and destruction of the Lenape capital of Coshocton;<ref>Downes, ''Council Fires'', 266.</ref> a detachment of one hundred of George Rogers Clark's troops that were ambushed near the Ohio River by Indians led by Joseph Brant in the same year; a British and Native American attack on the U.S.' Fort Laurens;<ref>{{cite web |title=Archeology of the Battles of Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio: Education and Protection |url=https://www.bsu.edu/-/media/www/departmentalcontent/aal/aalpdfs/roi%2076-100/roi%2078%20public.pdf |publisher=National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program |via=Ball State University |first1=Christine |last1=Keller |first2=Colleen |last2=Boyd |first3=Mark |last3=Groover |first4=Mark |last4=Hill |year=2011 |page=61 |access-date=November 24, 2019 |archive-date=June 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612080120/https://www.bsu.edu/-/media/www/departmentalcontent/aal/aalpdfs/roi%2076-100/roi%2078%20public.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 1782 detainment and murder of 96 Moravian Lenape pacifists by Pennsylvania militiamen in the Gnadenhutten massacre.<ref>Weslager, ''Delaware Indians'', 316.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=February 6, 2018 |title=Moravians in the Middle: the Gnadenhutten Massacre |first=Eric |last=Sterner |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/02/moravians-middle-gnadenhutten-massacre |journal=Journal of the American Revolution |access-date=September 30, 2019 |archive-date=September 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930143616/https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/02/moravians-middle-gnadenhutten-massacre/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The western theatre never had a decisive victor. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain ceded all claims to Ohio Country to the new United States after its victory in the American Revolutionary War.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMAKWDQt1LAC |title=Revolutionary America, 1763–1815: A Political History |year=2003 |publisher=Francis and Taylor |isbn=978-1-134-67869-3 |ref=cogliano2003 |access-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220153334/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Revolutionary_America_1763_1815/QMAKWDQt1LAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=Lawrence S. |title=The Treaty of Paris, 1783: A Historiographical Challenge |journal=International History Review |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|date=September 1983 |volume=5 |number=3 |pages=431–442 |doi=10.1080/07075332.1983.9640322 |jstor=40105317 |ref=lskaplan1983 | issn= 0707-5332 }}</ref>

===Northwest Territory=== {{see also|Northwest Ordinance|Northwest Territory}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Ohio Country en.png | caption1 = The Ohio Country indicating battle sites between American settlers and Indigenous tribes, 1775–1794 | image2 = LandingOfThePioneers.jpg | caption2 = The landing of Rufus Putnam and the first settlers at Marietta, Ohio, 1788 }}

The United States created the Northwest Territory under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.<ref>Cayton (2002), p. 3.</ref> Slavery was not permitted in the new territory. Settlement began with the founding of Marietta, Ohio, by the Ohio Company of Associates, which had been formed by a group of American Revolutionary War veterans. Following the Ohio Company, the Miami Company (also referred to as the "Symmes Purchase") claimed the southwestern section, and the Connecticut Land Company surveyed and settled the Connecticut Western Reserve in present-day Northeast Ohio. Territorial surveyors from Fort Steuben began surveying an area of eastern Ohio called the Seven Ranges at about the same time.

The old Northwest Territory originally included areas previously known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, the Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula and a sliver of southeastern Indiana called "The Gore". The coalition of Native American tribes, known as the Western Confederacy, was forced to cede extensive territory, including much of present-day Ohio, in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

Under the Northwest Ordinance, areas could be defined and admitted as states once their population reached 60,000. Although Ohio's population was only 45,000 in December 1801, the United States Congress determined that it was growing rapidly enough and accelerated the process via the Enabling Act of 1802. In regard to the Leni Lenape natives, Congress decided that 10,000 acres on the Muskingum River in the present state of Ohio would "be set apart and the property thereof be vested in the Moravian Brethren ... or a society of the said Brethren for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity".<ref>{{cite web |title=Religion and the Congress of the Confederation, 1774–89|date=June 4, 1998|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel04.html|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=April 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502224644/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel04.html|archive-date=May 2, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rufus Putnam has been referred to as the "father of Ohio". He and Manasseh Cutler were instrumental in creating the Northwest Ordinance, which opened up the Northwest Territory for settlement.<ref>Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' pp. 1–4, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-7862-7}}.</ref> The land was used to serve as compensation for what was owed to Revolutionary War veterans. Putnam organized and led the Ohio Company of Associates, who settled at Marietta, Ohio, where they built Campus Martius.<ref>Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' pp. 2–4, 45–8,105–18, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-7862-7}}.</ref><ref>Hildreth, Samuel Prescott. ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio,'' pp. 34–7, 63–74, Badgley Publishing Company, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-615-50189-5}}.</ref><ref>McCullough, David. ''The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West,'' pp. 46–7, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, New York, 2019. {{ISBN|978-1-5011-6870-3}}.</ref> Putnam set substantial amounts of land aside for schools, and in 1798, he created the plan for the construction of Muskingum Academy, now Marietta College. After being appointed superintendent of the Ohio Company relating to the settlement north of the Ohio River, he was later commissioned as Surveyor-General of United States Lands and served as a judge in the Northwest Territory's first court. In 1802, he served in the Ohio Constitutional Convention.<ref>Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' pp. 127–50, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-7862-7}}.</ref><ref>Hildreth, Samuel Prescott. ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio,'' pp. 69, 71, 81, 82, Badgley Publishing Company, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-615-50189-5}}.</ref><ref>McCullough, David. ''The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West,'' pp. 143–7, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, New York, 2019. {{ISBN|978-1-5011-6870-3}}.</ref>

===Statehood and early years=== {{see also|Ohio in the War of 1812}}

On February 19, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson signed an act of Congress approving Ohio's boundaries and constitution.<ref>An act to provide for the due execution of the laws of the United States, within the state of Ohio, ch. 7, {{USStat|2|201}} (February 19, 1803).</ref> Congress, however, did not formally admit Ohio as the 17th state. After the oversight was discovered in 1953 during preparations for Ohio's sesquicentennial, Congressman George H. Bender introduced legislation retroactively admitting Ohio effective March 1, 1803, the date the Ohio General Assembly first convened.<ref name="Blue-2002" /> At a special session in Chillicothe, Ohio, the state legislature approved a new petition for statehood, which was delivered to Washington, D.C., on horseback and approved that August.<ref name="Blue-2002">{{cite journal |last=Blue |first=Frederick J. |title=The Date of Ohio Statehood |journal=Ohio Academy of History Newsletter |date=Autumn 2002 |url=http://www2.uakron.edu/OAH/newsletter/newsletter/Autumn2002/features.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911164131/http://www2.uakron.edu/OAH/newsletter/newsletter/Autumn2002/features.html |archive-date=September 11, 2010}}</ref><ref>Joint Resolution for admitting the State of Ohio into the Union, ({{USStatute|83|204|67|407|1953|08|07}}).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/explanation-ohio-statehood.phtml|title=Clearing up the Confusion surrounding OHIO's Admission to Statehood|access-date=October 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017120249/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/explanation-ohio-statehood.phtml|archive-date=October 17, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ohio has had three capital cities: Chillicothe, Zanesville, and Columbus. Chillicothe served as the capital from 1803 to 1810, before the seat of government moved to Zanesville for two years as part of a legislative compromise. The capital returned to Chillicothe in 1812 and was permanently relocated to Columbus in 1816 because of its central location within the state.

[[File:Battle of Lake Erie.jpg|thumb|''Battle of Lake Erie'' by William Henry Powell]]

Although many Native Americans migrated west to evade encroachment, others remained in Ohio and partially assimilated. Around 1809, the Shawnee renewed resistance to further American expansion, leading to Tecumseh's War between the United States and Tecumseh's confederacy. During the War of 1812, the British invaded Ohio from Upper Canada and allied with the Shawnee. Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames in 1813, and most of the Shawnee, excluding the Pekowi in southwest Ohio, were forcibly removed westward.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolworkhelper.net/the-shawnee-tribe-war-of-1812/|title=The Shawnee Tribe & War of 1812|access-date=February 25, 2022|archive-date=February 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225181201/https://schoolworkhelper.net/the-shawnee-tribe-war-of-1812/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ohio was on the front line of the western theater during the War of 1812. One of the largest naval engagements of the war was the Battle of Lake Erie that took place near South Bass Island, where Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry lead a U.S. Navy squadron to victory over a Royal Navy force under Robert Heriot Barclay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=3345 |title=Ohio History Central |access-date=April 22, 2011}}</ref> The victory and subsequent peace are commemorated by Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Sherda K.|last2=Boyle|first2=Susan|title=Cultural landscape report: Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, Put-in-Bay, Ohio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyyWpuZalVoC|year=1994|publisher=National Park Service – Midwest Regional Office|page=15}}</ref>

After the war, most remaining Native American groups in Ohio were forcibly removed westward under federal removal policies, particularly following the Indian Removal Act of 1830.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stockwell |first1=Mary |title=The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians |date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/a/lanepl.org/columns-by-jim-blount/home/2017-articles/what-happened-to-indians-that-once-inhabited-ohio|title=What happened to Indians that once inhabited Ohio? - Columns by Jim Blount|access-date=February 25, 2022|archive-date=February 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225181159/https://sites.google.com/a/lanepl.org/columns-by-jim-blount/home/2017-articles/what-happened-to-indians-that-once-inhabited-ohio}}</ref> In 1835, Ohio and the Michigan Territory fought the mostly bloodless Toledo War over control of the Toledo Strip, which included the mouth of the Maumee River and accompanying farmland. Only one person was injured in the conflict. Congress later made Michigan's statehood conditional on ending the dispute; in exchange for relinquishing its claim to the Toledo Strip, Michigan received the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bingham |first=Stephen D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRMVAAAAYAAJ |title=Early History of Michigan: With Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators |date=1888 |publisher=Thorp & Godfrey, state printers |page=20 |language=en}}</ref>

===Civil War and industrialization=== {{See also|Underground Railroad in Ohio|Ohio in the American Civil War|Petroleum industry in Ohio}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = MorganWashington.jpg | caption1 = Morgan's Raid enters Old Washington, Ohio, during the American Civil War | image2 = Standard Oil Company 1889 CP04381 - DPLA - 032e381bb16b1a45abecfd1a6a86ae3a (cropped).jpg | caption2 = The first Standard Oil refinery was opened in Cleveland by businessman John D. Rockefeller. }}

During much of the 19th century, industry was rapidly introduced to complement an existing agricultural economy. One of the first iron blast furnaces opened near Youngstown, Ohio, in 1804.<ref name="OhioSteel.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.ohiosteel.org/industry/history.php |title=History of Ohio Steelmaking |website=OhioSteel.org |access-date=August 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725010626/http://www.ohiosteel.org/industry/history.php |archive-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref> By the mid-19th century, 48 blast furnaces were operating in Ohio, mostly in the southern part of the state.<ref name="OhioSteel.org"/> The discovery of coal deposits in the state aided further development of Ohio's steel industry, and by 1853, Cleveland was the nation's third-largest iron and steel producer.<ref name="OhioSteel.org"/>

Ohio played a significant role in the Underground Railroad due to its location on the Kentucky border, the northernmost state of the Upland South, and its anti-slavery sentiments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vivian |first=Daniel |date=2011 |title=Interpreting the History of the Underground Railroad in Southwest Ohio: The John P. Parker House |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/272/article/571552 |journal=Ohio Valley History |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=65–77 |issn=2377-0600}}</ref> Abolitionists serving the Underground Raildroad worked with enslaved people to organize escape routes to the North, and many of these routes intersected and passed through the state of Ohio.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henry|first=Wilber|title=The Underground Railroad in Ohio|publisher=A.W. McGraw|year=1993}}</ref>

Ohio's central location and large population gave it an important place in the American Civil War, as the Ohio River and the state's railroads were vital arteries for troop and supply movements. Ohio's industry made it one of the most important states in the Union during the war. It contributed more soldiers per capita than any other state in the Union. In 1862, the state's morale was badly shaken in the aftermath of the Battle of Shiloh, a costly victory in which Ohio forces suffered 2,000 casualties.<ref>Knepper (1989), pp. 233–234.</ref> Later that year, when the Confederate States Army under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson threatened Washington, D.C., Ohio governor David Tod recruited 5,000 volunteers to provide three months of service.<ref>Roseboom and Weisenburger (1967), p. 188.</ref>

In July 1863, towns along the Ohio River were attacked and ransacked in Morgan's Raid, starting in Harrison, Ohio, in the west and culminating in the Battle of Salineville in the far east. While this raid was overall insignificant to the Confederacy, it aroused fear among people in Ohio and Indiana as it was the furthest advancement of troops from the South in the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Morgan's_Raid|title=Morgan's Raid—Ohio History Central|website=Ohiohistorycentral.org|access-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621033754/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Morgan%27s_Raid|archive-date=June 21, 2018}}</ref> Almost 35,000 Ohioans died in the conflict, and 30,000 were physically wounded.<ref>Cayton (2002), p. 129.</ref> By the end of the Civil War, the Union's top three generals—Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Philip Sheridan—were all from Ohio.<ref>Cayton (2002), pp. 128–129.</ref>

Before the Civil War, the state's largest city was Cincinnati, but by the 1880s, the proximity of cities in Northeast Ohio to coal and iron ore resources led to the rapid urban growth of Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown.<ref name="OhioSteel.org"/> The first Bessemer converter was purchased by the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company, which became part of the U.S. Steel Corporation after the merger of Federal Steel Company and Carnegie Steel, the first billion-dollar American corporation.<ref name="OhioSteel.org" /> The first open-hearth furnace used for steel production was constructed by the Otis Steel Company in Cleveland, and by 1892, Ohio was the second-largest steel-producing state, behind Pennsylvania.<ref name="OhioSteel.org" /> Republic Steel was founded in Youngstown in 1899 and was at one point the nation's third-largest producer. Another important producer, Armco, was founded in Middletown, Ohio, in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/ak-steel-holding-corporation-history/|title=History of AK Steel Holding Corporation – FundingUniverse|website=www.fundinguniverse.com|access-date=September 20, 2019}}</ref>

===20th century=== The flag of Ohio was adopted in 1902.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Ohio%27s_State_Flag_(1901)|title=Ohio's State Flag (1901)|publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222949/https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Ohio%27s_State_Flag_(1901)}}</ref> After building the ''Wright Flyer'' at their workshop in Dayton, Ohio, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, inventing the first successful airplane.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/|title=The Wright Brothers - The First Successful Airplane|publisher=National Air and Space Museum|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222940/https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/|url-status=live}}</ref> Ohio was hit by its greatest natural disaster in the Great Flood of 1913, resulting in at least 428 fatalities and hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage, particularly around the Great Miami River basin.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/1913_Ohio_Statewide_Flood|title=1913 Ohio Statewide Flood|publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222944/https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/1913_Ohio_Statewide_Flood}}</ref> The National Football League was founded in Canton, Ohio in 1920, later being honored as the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.<ref name="Timeline Detail | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site">{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/history-of-football/1869-1939/1920-american-professional-football-conference-is-formed/ |title=Timeline Detail | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site |access-date=September 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915042600/http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/history-of-football/1869-1939/1920-american-professional-football-conference-is-formed/ |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Maroon-2006">{{cite book |last1=Maroon |first1=Thomas |last2=Maroon |first2=Margaret |last3=Holbert |first3=Craig |title=Akron-Canton Football Heritage |date=2006 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-4078-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn8OgEg-Az4C&pg=PA117 |access-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107195147/https://books.google.com/books?id=xn8OgEg-Az4C&pg=PA117 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Halftrack-production-3.jpg|thumb|A factory in Canton, Ohio, formerly used to manufacture safes and locks, converted to produce half-tracks during World War II. Many Ohio factories shifted to the production of military equipment for the war effort.<ref name="f545"/>]]

In the 1930s, the Great Depression struck the state hard. By 1933, more than 40% of factory workers and 67% of construction workers were unemployed in Ohio.<ref name="Ohio History Central">{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Great_Depression|title=Great Depression|publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222943/https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Great_Depression}}</ref> Approximately 50% of industrial workers in Cleveland and 80% in Toledo became unemployed, with the state unemployment rate reaching a high of 37.3%.<ref name="Ohio History Central"/> During this era, Cleveland residents Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, partly inspired by the Jewish golem tradition and used to portray the defeat of Nazism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/superman.htm |title=The SS and Superman |first=Randall |last=Bytwerk |website=Calvin.edu |access-date=August 17, 2017 |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626231453/http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/superman.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Superman.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717013856/http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Superman.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 17, 2012 |title=The religion of Superman (Clark Kent / Kal-El) |website=Adherents.com |access-date=August 17, 2017 }}</ref> Ohio went on to contribute roughly 839,000 servicemembers to World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/World_War_II|title=1913 Ohio Statewide Flood|publisher=World War II|access-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222942/https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/World_War_II}}</ref> During the war, many Ohio manufacturers converted their facilities to produce military equipment and other war materials in support of the Allied powers.<ref name="f545">{{cite web | title=Ohio and the Manhattan Project | website=energy.gov | date=October 13, 2015 | url=https://www.energy.gov/lm/articles/ohio-and-manhattan-project | access-date=May 12, 2026}}</ref> The Dayton Project was a branch of the larger Manhattan Project to develop polonium triggers used in early atomic bombs.<ref name="f545"/>

Ohio played a significant role in American popular culture during the 20th century, producing notable contributors to music, film, and visual art. Disc jockey Alan Freed hosted the first live rock and roll concert in Cleveland in 1952.<ref name = "BBCFreed">{{cite web| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17440514| title = How the world's first rock concert ended in chaos| author = Sheerin, Jude| date = March 21, 2012| access-date = March 12, 2014| work = BBC News}}</ref> Ohioans also made history in the Space Race, with John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, and Neil Armstrong becoming the first human to walk on the Moon in 1969. Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967 and became the first African American mayor of one of the nation's 10 most populous cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Carl_B._Stokes|title=Carl B. Stokes |publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222943/https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Carl_B._Stokes}}</ref>

In 1970, Ohio Army National Guard troops killed four students during an antiwar protest at Kent State University, an event known as the Kent State shootings.<ref>Hildebrand, Herrington, & Keller; pp. 165–166</ref> The shootings and the subsequent rise in student strikes affected public opinion at an already socially contentious time over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy {{!}} May 4, 1970 |url=https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy |access-date=August 11, 2025 |website=Kent State University |language=en}}</ref>

Ohio was an important state in developing China–United States relations in the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref name="Lampton-2024">{{cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages= |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref>{{Rp|page=59}} Relations between the two countries normalized in 1979, during the second term of Ohio governor Jim Rhodes.<ref name="Lampton-2024" />{{Rp|page=112}} Rhodes sought to encourage economic ties, viewing China as a potential market for Ohio machinery exports, and led a trade mission to China in July 1979.<ref name="Lampton-2024" />{{Rp|page=112}} The trip resulted in developing economic ties, a sister state-province relationship with Hubei province, long-running Chinese exhibitions at the Ohio State Fair, and major academic exchanges between Ohio State University and Wuhan University.<ref name="Lampton-2024" />{{Rp|page=113}} Beginning in the 1980s, the state entered into international economic and resource cooperation treaties and organizations with other governments in the Great Lakes region, including the Great Lakes Charter, Great Lakes Compact, and the Council of Great Lakes Governors. In 1995, the Dayton Agreement ending the Bosnian War was signed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 30, 1996 |title=Dayton Peace Accords on Bosnia |url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/eur/bosnia/bosagree.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522194450/http://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/eur/bosnia/bosagree.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2006 |publisher=US Department of State}}</ref>

===21st century=== The trend of deindustrialization has continued to impact the state's economy and others within the Rust Belt region in the 21st century. Manufacturing in the Midwestern United States experienced a stark decline during the first quarter of the century,<ref name="Arden-2021">{{cite web |last1=Arden |first1=Scott |last2=DeCarlo |first2=Christopher |date=November 2021 |title=Exploring Midwest manufacturing employment from 1990 to 2019 |url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/exploring-midwest-manufacturing-employment-from-1990-to-2019.htm |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=www.bls.gov |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |language=en-us |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221203210/https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/exploring-midwest-manufacturing-employment-from-1990-to-2019.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> a trend that greatly impacted Ohio. From 1990 to 2019, it lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, but added over 1,000,000 non-manufacturing jobs.<ref name="Arden-2021" /> Coinciding with this decline, Ohio has seen a large decline in union membership: 17.4% of Ohioan workers were union members in 2000, while 12.8% were union members in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Union Membership Historical Table for Ohio: Midwest Information Office |url=https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/unionmembershiphistorical_ohio_table.htm |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=www.bls.gov |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |language=en |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221203211/https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/unionmembershiphistorical_ohio_table.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the wake of these economic changes, the state government moved to promote new industries to offset manufacturing losses, such as the production of solar energy and electric vehicles.<ref>{{cite web |last=Woody |first=Todd |date=November 23, 2009 |title=Solar energy industry brings a ray of hope to the Rust Belt |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-nov-23-la-fi-rustbelt-greenbelt23-2009nov23-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417072333/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/23/business/la-fi-rustbelt-greenbelt23-2009nov23 |archive-date=April 17, 2017 |access-date=August 17, 2017 |via=LA Times}}</ref> In 2002, Governor Bob Taft launched the "Third Frontier" program, which aimed to increase investment in Ohio and boost its technology sector.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio Third Frontier – History |url=http://www.development.ohio.gov/ohiothirdfrontier/History.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006045824/http://www.development.ohio.gov/OhioThirdFrontier/History.htm |archive-date=October 6, 2010 |access-date=August 17, 2017 |website=Ohio.gov}}</ref> Much of northern Ohio was subject to the Northeast blackout of 2003, which was traced back to a FirstEnergy generating plant that went offline in Eastlake, Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/blackout_2003_timeline.html |title = BLACKOUT 2003: The timeline |website = cleveland.com |date = August 14, 2013|access-date = February 27, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307212233/http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/blackout_2003_timeline.html |archive-date = March 7, 2016 |url-status = live}}</ref> Ohio's economy was heavily afflicted by the Great Recession, as the state's unemployment rate rose from 5.6% in the first two months of 2008 up to a peak of 11.1% in December 2009 and January 2010.<ref name="U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics-1976">{{cite web |last=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |date=January 1, 1976 |title=Unemployment Rate in Ohio |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OHUR |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221155857/https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OHUR |url-status=live }}</ref> It took until August 2014 for the unemployment rate to return to 5.6%.<ref name="U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics-1976" />

Politically, Ohio had been long regarded as a swing state,<ref name="Fahey-2021">{{cite web |last=Fahey |first=Kevin |date=September 2, 2021 |title=What Happened?: The 2020 election confirmed that Ohio is no longer a swing state. |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2021/09/02/what-happened-the-2020-election-confirmed-that-ohio-is-no-longer-a-swing-state/ |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=blogs.lse.ac.uk |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221203210/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2021/09/02/what-happened-the-2020-election-confirmed-that-ohio-is-no-longer-a-swing-state/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but the success of many Republican candidates in Ohio since the late 2000s has led many to question whether Ohio remains an electoral battleground.<ref name="Fahey-2021" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=LeBlanc |first1=Paul |last2=Diaz |first2=Daniella |date=December 4, 2022 |title=Sen. Sherrod Brown says Ohio is still a swing state ahead of 2024 election {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/politics/sherrod-brown-ohio-2024-swing-state-cnntv/index.html |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221203211/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/politics/sherrod-brown-ohio-2024-swing-state-cnntv/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gangitano |first=Alex |date=September 9, 2022 |title=Ohio shows signs of becoming swing state again for Democrats |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3635032-democrats-aim-to-make-ohio-a-swing-state-again/ |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=The Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221203210/https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3635032-democrats-aim-to-make-ohio-a-swing-state-again/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 9, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Ohio, which resulted in millions of cases.<ref name="The New York Times-2020">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=April 1, 2020 |title=Ohio Coronavirus Map and Case Count |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/ohio-covid-cases.html |access-date=February 22, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222003328/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/ohio-covid-cases.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/ |title=Coronavirus |date=March 31, 2020 |website=coronavirus.ohio.gov |access-date=March 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130182346/https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home |archive-date=November 30, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ohio's economy was also impacted by the pandemic, as the state saw large job losses in 2020, as well as large amounts of subsequent stimulus spending.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellerbrock |first1=Matthew |last2=Demko |first2=Iryna |last3=Lendel |first3=Iryna |last4=Henrichsen |first4=Erica |date=March 1, 2021 |title=Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ohio |url=https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/urban_facpub/1730 |journal=All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications |pages=1–7 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405072405/https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/urban_facpub/1730/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks sites, which preserve monumental earthworks constructed by the Hopewell tradition between approximately 1 and 400 AD, were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Weingartner |first=Tana |date=September 19, 2023 |title=Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are now a UNESCO World Heritage site |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/09/16/1199573920/ohios-hopewell-ceremonial-earthworks-now-a-unesco-world-heritage-site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209135241/https://www.npr.org/2023/09/16/1199573920/ohios-hopewell-ceremonial-earthworks-now-a-unesco-world-heritage-site |archive-date=February 9, 2024 |access-date=July 2, 2024 |work=NPR}}</ref>

==Geography== {{Further|List of Ohio counties|List of cities in Ohio|List of villages in Ohio|List of Ohio townships|Ohio public lands|List of lakes in Ohio}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Geographic regions ohio.svg | caption1 = Geographic regions of Ohio | image2 = Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (4663688070).jpg | caption2 = Put-in-Bay is located on South Bass Island, one of Ohio's Lake Erie Islands. | image3 = The Ohio river running between Ohio and West Virginia.jpg | caption3 = The Ohio River marks the state's southern and eastern borders with Kentucky and West Virginia. }}

Ohio's location has proven to be an asset for economic growth and expansion. Because it links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders along its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th-largest highway network and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity.<ref>{{cite web |archive-date=January 24, 2008 |url=http://www.dot.state.oh.us/budget/Feb12-03/TransDelivers2-12.asp |place=Ohio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124091721/http://www.dot.state.oh.us/budget/Feb12-03/TransDelivers2-12.asp |date=February 12, 2003 |title=Transportation delivers for Ohio |publisher=Department of Transportation |access-date=December 22, 2005}}</ref> To the north, Ohio has {{convert|312|mi|km}} of coastline with Lake Erie,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohiodnr.com/Home/about/counties/tabid/18020/Default.aspx |title=Ohio Coastal Counties |publisher=Department of Natural Resources |place=Ohio |access-date=September 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830020758/http://ohiodnr.com/Home/about/counties/tabid/18020/Default.aspx |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> which allows for numerous cargo ports such as Cleveland and Toledo. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River. Ohio's neighbors are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast. Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows: {{blockquote |Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio River, to the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid.}}

Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but nearly all of the river belongs to Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, based on the wording of the cessation of territory by Virginia (which at the time included what is now Kentucky and West Virginia), the boundary between Ohio and Kentucky (and, by implication, West Virginia) is the northern low-water mark of the river as it existed in 1792.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=444&invol=335 |publisher= Find law |title= Ohio v. Kentucky, 444 U.S. 335 | date = January 21, 1980 | access-date = August 15, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140828231503/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=444&invol=335 | archive-date = August 28, 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref> Ohio has only that portion of the river between the river's 1792 low-water mark and the present high-water mark. The border with Michigan has also changed, as a result of the Toledo War, to angle slightly northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee River.

Much of Ohio features glaciated till plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests.

Ohio's rugged southeastern quadrant, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socioeconomic unit. Geologically similar to parts of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state. In 1965, Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, an attempt to "address the persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian Region".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=7 |title=History of the Appalachian Regional Commission |publisher=Appalachian Regional Commission |access-date=January 3, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222133844/http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=7 |archive-date=December 22, 2005 }}</ref> It defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia.<ref>[http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=27 "Counties in Appalachia"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917184038/http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=27 |date=September 17, 2008 }}, Appalachian Regional Commission. Retrieved January 3, 2006.</ref> While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there (1.476 million people.)<ref>[https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t "GCT-T1 Ohio County Population Estimates—2005"]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, The United States Census Bureau, retrieved January 3, 2006. True summation of Ohio Appalachia counties population (1,476,384) obtained by adding the 29 individual county populations together (July 1, 2005, data). Percentage obtained by dividing that number into that table's estimate of Ohio population as of July 1, 2005 (11,464,042)</ref>

Significant Ohio rivers include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in northern Ohio drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and those in southern Ohio drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio River and the Mississippi. Ohio also includes Bass Islands and Kelleys Island.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gwillim Law|title=Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=nXCeCQAAQBAJ|access-date=October 26, 2023|date=May 20, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0447-3|page=396}}</ref> Grand Lake St. Marys in the west-central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. This body of water, over {{convert|20|sqmi|km2}}, was the largest artificial lake in the world when completed in 1845.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.stmarysdevelops.com/life-in-st-marys/history |website=St. Marys Develops |access-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302112728/http://stmarysdevelops.com/life-in-st-marys/history |url-status=live }}</ref> Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to their location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.

Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, First Ladies National Historic Site, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, William Howard Taft National Historic Site, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, and Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/state/oh/index.htm |title=Ohio |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=July 24, 2024 }}</ref>

===Fauna and flora === [[File:Hellbender Cryptobranchus.jpg|thumb|Eastern Hellbender in captivity]]

Ohio has wide variety of unique animal species. Rare and endangered species include the Eastern Hellbender, which is found in the Southeastern Appalachian region of Ohio and is classified as state endangered.<ref>{{cite web |title=EASTERN HELLBENDER |url=https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/reptiles-amphibians/eastern-hellbender |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Ohio Department of Natural Resources |archive-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321061019/https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/reptiles-amphibians/eastern-hellbender |url-status=live }}</ref> The Eastern Hellbender is the 3rd largest amphibian in the world, and can grow up to 27 inches in length. It is fully aquatic and breathes almost entirely through its skin. Due to this, it is only found in pristine, cool, clear, fast flowing streams and rivers. It is highly threatened by habitat loss, water pollution, and sedimentation due to logging and other human activities.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. |year=2022 |title=''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis'' |volume=2022 |article-number=e.T59077A82473431 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T59077A82473431.en |access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref>

Although predominantly not in a subtropical climate, some warmer-climate flora and fauna reach well into Ohio. For instance, some trees with more southern ranges, such as the blackjack oak, ''Quercus marilandica'', are found at their northernmost in Ohio just north of the Ohio River. Also evidencing this climatic transition from a subtropical to a continental climate, several plants such as the southern magnolia ''(Magnolia grandiflora)'', Albizia julibrissin (mimosa), Crape Myrtle, and even the occasional Needle Palm are hardy landscape materials regularly used as street, yard, and garden plantings in the Bluegrass region of Ohio. These same plants will simply not thrive in much of the rest of the state. This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on Interstate 75 from Cincinnati to Toledo. The observant traveler of this diverse state may even catch a glimpse of Cincinnati's common wall lizard, one of the few examples of permanent "subtropical" fauna in Ohio.

===Climate=== {{See also|Climate change in Ohio}} [[File:Köppen Climate Types Ohio.png|thumb|Köppen climate types of Ohio, using 1991–2020 climate normals.]]

The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfa/Dfb'') throughout most of the state, except in the extreme southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section, which are located on the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'') and Upland South region of the United States. Summers are typically hot and humid throughout Ohio. Winters generally range from cool to cold. Precipitation in Ohio is moderate year-round. Severe weather is not uncommon in the state, although there are typically fewer tornado reports in Ohio than in states located in what is known as the Tornado Alley. Severe lake effect snowstorms are not uncommon on the southeast shore of Lake Erie, which is located in an area designated as the Snowbelt.

The highest recorded temperature was {{convert|113|F|C|lk=on}}, near Gallipolis on July 21, 1934.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pub/data/special/maxtemps.pdf |title= All-Time Temperature Maximums By State (2003)| access-date= November 7, 2006| publisher= National Climatic Data Center| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130303055638/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39000.html |archive-date= March 3, 2013 |url-status= live}}</ref> The lowest recorded temperature was {{convert|-39|F|C}}, at Milligan on February 10, 1899,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pub/data/special/mintemps.pdf| title = All-Time Temperature Minimums By State (2003)| access-date = November 7, 2006| publisher = National Climatic Data Center| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080922153636/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pub/data/special/mintemps.pdf| archive-date = September 22, 2008| url-status = live}}</ref> during the Great Blizzard of 1899.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2012/02/06/the-great-blizzard-of-1899-deep-south-deep-freeze/ |title=The Great Blizzard of 1899: Deep South, Deep Freeze |last1=McLeod |first1=Jaime |date=February 6, 2012 |website=The Farmer's Almanac |access-date=February 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206103807/http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2012/02/06/the-great-blizzard-of-1899-deep-south-deep-freeze/ |archive-date=February 6, 2016 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto;" |+Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Ohio<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/city.php3?c=US&s=OH&statename=Ohio-United-States-of-America |title=Ohio climate averages |publisher=Weatherbase |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009031514/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/city.php3?c=US&s=OH&statename=Ohio-United-States-of-America |archive-date=October 9, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> |- !Location !Region !July (°F) !July (°C) !January (°F) !January (°C) |- |Athens || Appalachian || 85/61 || 29/16 || 40/21 || 4/−6 |- |Cincinnati || Southwest || 86/66 || 30/19 || 39/23 || 3/−5 |- |Cleveland || Northeast || 82/64 || 28/18 || 34/21 || 1/−5 |- |Columbus || Central || 85/65 || 29/18 || 36/22 || 2/−5 |- |Dayton || Miami Valley || 87/67 || 31/19 || 36/22 || 2/−5 |- |Toledo || Northwest || 84/62 || 29/17 || 32/18 || 0/−7 |- |Youngstown || Northeast || 81/60 || 27/15 || 32/19 || 0/−7 |}

The worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton. As a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major floodplain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.miamiconservancy.org/about/conservancy.asp |title=The History of the MCD: The Conservancy Act |access-date=January 13, 2007 |publisher=Miami Conservancy District |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314003325/http://www.miamiconservancy.org/about/conservancy.asp |archive-date=March 14, 2007}}</ref>

Although few have registered as noticeable to the average resident, more than 200 earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or higher have occurred in Ohio since 1776.<ref name="Hansen-2015">{{cite web |first=Michael C. |last=Hansen |title=Earthquakes in Ohio |url=https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/geosurvey/PDFs/Education/el09.pdf |date=2015 |publisher=Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey |access-date=June 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224035942/https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/geosurvey/PDFs/Education/el09.pdf |archive-date=December 24, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Western Ohio Seismic Zone and a portion of the Southern Great Lakes Seismic Zone are located in the state, and numerous faults lie under the surface.<ref name="Hansen-2015"/><ref>{{cite web |first=Mark T.|last=Baranoski |title=Structure Contour Map on the Precambrian Unconformity Surface in Ohio and Related Basement Features |publisher=Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey |url=https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/geosurvey/PDFs/Misc_State_Maps&Pubs/Map-PG-23_Vers-2.pdf|date=2013|access-date=June 13, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203192416/http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/geosurvey/PDFs/Misc_State_Maps%26Pubs/Map-PG-23_Vers-2.pdf|archive-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref>

The most substantial known earthquake in Ohio history was the Anna (Shelby County) earthquake,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/earthquakes-ohioseis/faq-quakes-in-ohio|title=OhioSeis Earthquake FAQ: What was the biggest earthquake in Ohio?|publisher=Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey|access-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410163708/http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/earthquakes-ohioseis/faq-quakes-in-ohio|archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> which occurred on March 9, 1937. It was centered in western Ohio, with a magnitude of 5.4, and was of intensity VIII.<ref>[https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1937_03_09.php Historic Earthquakes: Western Ohio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213060325/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1937_03_09.php |date=December 13, 2007}}, U.S. Geological Survey.</ref> Other significant earthquakes in Ohio include:<ref>{{cite web | url = https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/historical_state.php#ohio | title = Historic United States Earthquakes. Ohio | place = US | publisher = Geological Survey | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091007212652/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/historical_state.php#ohio | archive-date = October 7, 2009 }}</ref> one of magnitude 4.8 near Lima on September 19, 1884;<ref>{{cite web | url = https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1884_09_19.php | title = Historic Earthquakes. Near Lima, OH, 1884-9-19 | place = US | publisher = Geological Survey | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090909210752/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1884_09_19.php | archive-date = September 9, 2009 }}</ref> one of magnitude 4.2 near Portsmouth on May 17, 1901;<ref>{{cite web |title= Historic Earthquakes: Near Portsmouth, Ohio 1901 May 17 06:00 UTC| url= http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1901_05_17.php| publisher= US Geological Survey| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090909210857/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1901_05_17.php|archive-date= 9 September 2009|access-date= 1 July 2025}}</ref> and one of 5.0 in LeRoy Township in Lake County on January 31, 1986, which continued to trigger 13 aftershocks of magnitude 0.5 to 2.4 for two months.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1986_01_31.php | title = Historic Earthquakes. Near Portsmouth, OH, 1986-1-31 | place = US | publisher = Geological Survey | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090909212604/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1986_01_31.php | archive-date = September 9, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/quakes-1950-to-1999-pgs/northeastern-ohio-january-1986 | title = Northeastern Ohio Quake, January 1986 | publisher = Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey | access-date = June 13, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190429113048/http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/quakes-1950-to-1999-pgs/northeastern-ohio-january-1986 | archive-date = April 29, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Notable Ohio earthquakes in the 21st century include one occurring on December 31, 2011, approximately {{convert|4|km|mi|sp=us}} northwest of Youngstown,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0007f7s.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120107125644/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0007f7s.php |archive-date=January 7, 2012 |title=Magnitude 4.0—Youngstown-Warren urban area, OH |place=US |publisher=Geological Survey |access-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref> and one occurring on June 10, 2019, approximately {{convert|5|km|mi|sp=us}} north-northwest of Eastlake under Lake Erie;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us70003xny/executive |title=M 4.0—5km NNW of Eastlake, Ohio |place=US |publisher=Geological Survey |access-date=June 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611233939/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us70003xny/executive |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> both registered a 4.0 magnitude.

===Cities=== {{See also|List of cities in Ohio}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Ohio population density 2020.png | caption1 = Ohio population density map | image2 = Ohio Municipalities.png | caption2 = Ohio Municipalities }}

There are 13 metropolitan statistical areas in Ohio, anchored by 16 cities, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Additionally, 30 Ohio cities function as centers of micropolitan statistical areas, urban clusters smaller than that of metropolitan areas. Ohio's three largest cities are Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

Columbus, the state capital near Ohio's geographic center, is known for Ohio State University and a large concentration of finance, insurance, healthcare, and research institutions. Major employers include Battelle Memorial Institute, Cardinal Health, Huntington Bancshares, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usmayors.org/metroeconomies/0110/charts.pdf |title=Top 100 U.S. metro economies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625175418/http://usmayors.org/metroeconomies/0110/charts.pdf |archive-date=June 25, 2010 |publisher=U.S. Conference of Mayors |access-date=April 22, 2010 }}</ref>

Cleveland is located along Lake Erie in Northeast Ohio and developed as a major manufacturing and healthcare center shaped by immigrant communities and New England heritage. The broader region includes Akron and Canton and is known for companies such as Progressive Corporation, Sherwin-Williams, and Goodyear Tire, institutions including the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University, and cultural attractions such as the Cleveland Museum of Art and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Cincinnati anchors Southwest Ohio and a metropolitan area extending into Kentucky and Indiana. The region is known for companies including Procter & Gamble, Kroger, and Fifth Third Bank, as well as institutions such as the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Nearby Dayton and Springfield are in the Miami Valley, which is home to the extensive Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Toledo and Lima are the principal cities of Northwest Ohio, historically associated with the glass industry and companies such as Owens Corning and Owens-Illinois. In eastern Ohio, Steubenville is the largest urban center in the Appalachian region. Ohio also contains portions of metropolitan areas centered in neighboring states, including Huntington and Wheeling in West Virginia. Ohio is the US state with the highest number of cities with the same name as UK cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://matthewjmiller07.github.io/uscities |title=Map of UK cities which share names with US cities |access-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821100348/https://matthewjmiller07.github.io/uscities/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Largest cities |country = Ohio |stat_ref = Source: 2020 U.S. Census<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts|access-date=February 3, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202181905/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221|url-status=live}}</ref> |list_by_pop = |div_name = |div_link = Counties of Ohio{{!}}County |city_1 = Columbus, Ohio{{!}}Columbus |div_1 = Franklin County, Ohio{{!}}Franklin |pop_1 = 905,748

|city_2 = Cleveland |div_2 = Cuyahoga County, Ohio{{!}}Cuyahoga |pop_2 = 372,624

|city_3 = Cincinnati |div_3 = Hamilton County, Ohio{{!}}Hamilton |pop_3 = 309,317

|city_4 = Toledo, Ohio{{!}}Toledo |div_4 = Lucas County, Ohio{{!}}Lucas |pop_4 = 270,871

|city_5 = Akron, Ohio{{!}}Akron |div_5 = Summit County, Ohio{{!}}Summit |pop_5 = 190,469

|city_6 = Dayton, Ohio{{!}}Dayton |div_6 = Montgomery County, Ohio{{!}}Montgomery |pop_6 = 137,644

|city_7 = Parma, Ohio{{!}}Parma |div_7 = Cuyahoga County, Ohio{{!}}Cuyahoga |pop_7 = 81,146

|city_8 = Canton, Ohio{{!}}Canton |div_8 = Stark County, Ohio{{!}}Stark |pop_8 = 70,872

|city_9 = Lorain, Ohio{{!}}Lorain |div_9 = Lorain County, Ohio{{!}}Lorain |pop_9 = 65,211

| city_10 = Hamilton, Ohio{{!}}Hamilton | div_10 = Butler County, Ohio{{!}}Butler | pop_10 = 62,082

| city_11 = Youngstown, Ohio{{!}}Youngstown | div_11 = Mahoning County, Ohio{{!}}Mahoning | pop_11 = 60,068

| city_12 = Springfield, Ohio{{!}}Springfield | div_12 = Clark County, Ohio{{!}}Clark | pop_12 = 58,662

| city_13 = Kettering, Ohio{{!}}Kettering | div_13 = Montgomery County, Ohio{{!}}Montgomery | pop_13 = 57,862

| city_14 = Elyria, Ohio{{!}}Elyria | div_14 = Lorain County, Ohio{{!}}Lorain | pop_14 = 52,656

| city_15 = Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio{{!}}Cuyahoga Falls | div_15 = Summit County, Ohio{{!}}Summit | pop_15 = 51,114

| city_16 = Middletown, Ohio{{!}}Middletown | div_16 = Butler County, Ohio{{!}}Butler | pop_16 = 50,987

| city_17 = Lakewood, Ohio{{!}}Lakewood | div_17 = Cuyahoga County, Ohio{{!}}Cuyahoga | pop_17 = 50,942

| city_18 = Newark, Ohio{{!}}Newark | div_18 = Licking County, Ohio{{!}}Licking | pop_18 = 49,934

| city_19 = Euclid, Ohio{{!}}Euclid | div_19 = Cuyahoga County, Ohio{{!}}Cuyahoga | pop_19 = 49,692

| city_20 = Dublin, Ohio{{!}}Dublin | div_20 = Franklin County, Ohio{{!}}Franklin | pop_20 = 49,328

}}

==Demographics== {{US Census population | 1800 = 45365 | 1810 = 230760 | 1820 = 581434 | 1830 = 937903 | 1840 = 1519467 | 1850 = 1980329 | 1860 = 2339511 | 1870 = 2665260 | 1880 = 3198062 | 1890 = 3672329 | 1900 = 4157545 | 1910 = 4767121 | 1920 = 5759394 | 1930 = 6646697 | 1940 = 6907612 | 1950 = 7946627 | 1960 = 9706397 | 1970 = 10652017 | 1980 = 10797630 | 1990 = 10847115 | 2000 = 11353140 | 2010 = 11536504 | 2020 = 11799448 | estyear = 2025 | estimate = 11900510 | estref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/OH/PST045224 |website=census.gov |access-date=December 20, 2024 }}</ref> | align-fn = center | footnote = Source: 1910–2020<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Population Change Data (1910–2020) |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429012609/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html }}</ref> }}

===Population=== [[File:Ohio population pyramid.webp|thumb|left|Ohio population pyramid]] From just over 45,000 residents in 1800, Ohio's population grew faster than 10% per decade (except for the 1940 census) until the 1970 census, which recorded just over 10.65 million Ohioans.<ref>{{cite web |title=Census of Population: 1970, Part 37—Ohio, Section 1|publisher=United States Census Bureau|year=1970|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_oh1-01.pdf|access-date=March 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415053910/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_oh1-01.pdf|archive-date=April 15, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Growth then slowed for the next four decades.<ref>{{cite web |last=Balistreri |first=Kelly |title=Ohio Population News: Why did Ohio lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives? |publisher=Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University |date=February 2001 |url=http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/cas/file36222.pdf |access-date=March 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516165832/http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/cas/file36222.pdf |archive-date=May 16, 2008 }}</ref> The United States Census Bureau counted 11,808,848 in the 2020 census, a 2.4% increase since the 2010 United States census.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apportionment population and number of representatives by state: 2020 census |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-table01.pdf |publisher=US Census Bureau |date=April 26, 2021 |access-date=April 26, 2021 |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426194028/https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-table01.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Ohio's population growth lags that of the entire United States, and whites are found in a greater density than the U.S. average. {{As of|2000}}, Ohio's center of population is located in Morrow County,<ref name="Ohio Department of Development, Office of Strategic Research-2001">{{cite web |title=2000 Population and Geographic Centers of Ohio |publisher=Ohio Department of Development, Office of Strategic Research |date=March 2001 |url=http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/G101.pdf |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124004820/http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/G101.pdf |archive-date=November 24, 2005 }}</ref> in the county seat of Mount Gilead.<ref>{{cite web |title=Population and Population Centers by State: 2000 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=December 6, 2008 |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508041813/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/statecenters.txt |archive-date=May 8, 2013 }}</ref> This is approximately {{convert|6346|ft|m}} south and west of Ohio's population center in 1990.<ref name="Ohio Department of Development, Office of Strategic Research-2001" />

{{Chart|chart=Ohio's population by decade.chart|data=Ohio's population by decade.tab|align=left|thumb|width=500px}}

thumb|right|Population growth by county in Ohio between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. {{legend|#800000|-10 to -5 percent}} {{legend|#ff0000|-5 to -2 percent}} {{legend|#ff8080|-2 to 0 percent}} {{legend|#80ff80|0 to 2 percent}} {{legend|#00ff00|2 to 5 percent}} {{legend|#00aa00|5 to 10 percent}} {{legend|#005500|10 to 20 percent}} {{legend|#002b00| More than 20 percent}} As of 2011, 27.6% of Ohio's children under the age of 1 belonged to minority groups.<ref>"[http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html Americans under age{{nbsp}}1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714084214/http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |date=July 14, 2016 }}". ''The Plain Dealer''. June 3, 2012.</ref> Approximately 6.2% of Ohio's population was under five years of age, 23.7% under 18 years of age, and 14.1% were 65 or older; females made up an estimated 51.2% of the population.

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 10,654 homeless people in Ohio.<ref>{{cite web |title=2007-2022 PIT Counts by State |url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fxls%2F2007-2022-PIT-Counts-by-State.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314020239/https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fxls%2F2007-2022-PIT-Counts-by-State.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Part 1: point-in-time estimates of homelessness |work=The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress |url=https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2022-AHAR-Part-1.pdf |date=December 2022 |publisher=HUD USER |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115000413/https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2022-AHAR-Part-1.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2023 }}</ref> {{clear}} {{See also|Homelessness in Ohio}}

====Birth data==== ''Note: Births in table do not add up because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.''

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" |+ Live births by single race/ethnicity of mother |- ! Race ! 2013<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |series=Volume 64, Number 1 |date=January 15, 2015 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=S. C. |last4=Curtin |first5=T.J. |last5=Mathews |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162514/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2014<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=December 23, 2015 |series=Volume 64, Number 12 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=S. C. |last4=Curtin |first5=T.J. |last5=Mathews |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214040341/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf |archive-date=February 14, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2015<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=January 5, 2017 |series=Volume 66, Number 1 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |first5=T.J. |last5=Mathews |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831155911/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2016<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=January 31, 2018 |series=Volume 67, Number 1 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |first5=P. |last5=Drake |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=May 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603002249/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2017<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=November 7, 2018 |series=Volume 67, Number 8 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |first5=P. |last5=Drake |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=February 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201210916/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2018<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=November 27, 2019 |series=Volume 68, Number 13 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J. K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=November 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128161211/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=March 23, 2021 |series=Volume 70, Number 2 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324160631/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2020<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-17.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=February 7, 2022 |series=Volume 70, Number 17 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |first5=C. P. |last5=Valenzuela |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=February 20, 2022 |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210175206/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/NVSR70-17.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2021<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports |date=January 31, 2023 |series=Volume 72, Number 1 |first1=B. E. |last1=Hamilton |first2=J. A. |last2=Martin |first3=M. J.K. |last3=Osterman |first4=A. K. |last4=Driscoll |first5=C. P. |last5=Valenzuela |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201003942/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2022<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr73/nvsr73-02.pdf |title=Data |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=2024-04-05 |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404230758/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr73/nvsr73-02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ! 2023<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr74/nvsr74-1.pdf |title=Data |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=2025-04-12}}</ref> |- | White | 104,059 (74.9%) | 104,102 (74.6%) | 103,586 (74.4%) | 100,225 (72.6%) | 98,762 (72.1%) | 97,423 (72.1%) | 95,621 (71.1%) | 92,033 (71.2%) | 92,761 (71.5%) | 90,671 (70.7%) | 88,799 (70.0%) |- | Black | 24,952 (18.0%) | 24,931 (17.9%) | 25,078 (18.0%) | 22,337 (16.2%) | 22,431 (16.4%) | 22,201 (16.4%) | 22,555 (16.8%) | 21,447 (16.6%) | 20,748 (16.0%) | 20,380 (15.9%) | 20,107 (15.8%) |- | Asian | 3,915 (2.8%) | 4,232 (3.0%) | 4,367 (3.1%) | 4,311 (3.1%) | 4,380 (3.2%) | 4,285 (3.2%) | 4,374 (3.3%) | 3,995 (3.1%) | 3,862 (3.0%) | 3,923 (3.1%) | 3,862 (3.0%) |- | American Indian | 320 (0.2%) | 301 (0.2%) | 253 (0.2%) | 128 (0.1%) | 177 (0.1%) | 169 (0.1%) | 204 (0.2%) | 102 (>0.1%) | 107 (>0.1%) | 89 (>0.1%) | 72 (>0.1%) |- | ''Hispanic'' (any race) | ''6,504'' (4.7%) | ''6,884'' (4.9%) | ''6,974'' (5.0%) | ''7,420'' (5.4%) | ''7,468'' (5.5%) | ''7,432'' (5.5%) | ''7,725'' (5.7%) | ''7,669'' (5.9%) | ''8,228'' (6.3%) | ''9,062'' (7.1%) | ''9,748'' (7.7%) |- | '''Total''' | '''138,936''' (100%) | '''139,467''' (100%) | '''139,264''' (100%) | '''138,085''' (100%) | '''136,832''' (100%) | '''135,134''' (100%) | '''134,461''' (100%) | '''129,191''' (100%) | '''129,791''' (100%) | '''128,231''' (100%) | '''126,896''' (100%) |} * Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one ''Hispanic'' group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

===Ancestry=== thumb|Ethnic origins in Ohio {| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" ; text-align:right; font-size:80%;" |+ style="font-size:90%" |Ethnic composition as of the 2020 census |- ! class="unsortable" | Race and ethnicity<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html |title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census |author= |date=August 12, 2021 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=September 26, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815165418/https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ! colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" |Alone ! colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" |Total |- | White (non-Hispanic) |align=right| {{bartable|75.9|%|2||background:gray}} |align=right| {{bartable|79.9|%|2||background:gray}} |- | African American (non-Hispanic) |align=right| {{bartable|12.3|%|2||background:mediumblue}} |align=right| {{bartable|14.0|%|2||background:mediumblue}} |- | Hispanic or Latino{{efn|Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry.}} |align=right| {{bartable}} |align=right| {{bartable|4.4|%|2||background:green}} |- | Asian |align=right| {{bartable|2.5|%|2||background:purple}} |align=right| {{bartable|3.1|%|2||background:purple}} |- | Native American |align=right| {{bartable|0.2|%|2||background:gold}} |align=right| {{bartable|1.7|%|2||background:gold}} |- | Pacific Islander |align=right| {{bartable|0.04|%|2||background:pink}} |align=right| {{bartable|0.1|%|2||background:pink}} |- | Other |align=right| {{bartable|0.4|%|2||background:brown}} |align=right| {{bartable|1.2|%|2||background:brown}} |}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+'''Ohio – Racial and ethnic composition''' {{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}} !Race / Ethnicity (''NH = Non-Hispanic'') !Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Ohio |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALSF12000.P004?q=P004:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO,+AND+NOT+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+BY+RACE+[73]&g=040XX00US39|publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=March 13, 2026|df=mdy }}</ref> !Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Ohio |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALPL2010.P2?q=p2&g=040XX00US39|website=United States Census Bureau |access-date=March 13, 2026|df=mdy }}</ref> !{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Ohio |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALPL2020.P2?q=p2&g=040XX00US39|website=United States Census Bureau |access-date=March 13, 2026|df=mdy }}</ref> !% 2000 !% 2010 !{{partial|% 2020}} |- |White alone (NH) |9,538,111 |9,359,263 |style='background: #ffffe6; |8,954,135 |84.01% |81.13% |style='background: #ffffe6; |75.89% |- |Black or African American alone (NH) |1,290,662 |1,389,115 |style='background: #ffffe6; |1,457,180 |11.37% |12.04% |style='background: #ffffe6; |12.35% |- |Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) |21,985 |20,906 |style='background: #ffffe6; |18,949 |0.19% |0.18% |style='background: #ffffe6; |0.16% |- |Asian alone (NH) |131,670 |190,765 |style='background: #ffffe6; |296,604 |1.16% |1.65% |style='background: #ffffe6; |2.51% |- |Pacific Islander alone (NH) |2,336 |3,400 |style='background: #ffffe6; |4,493 |0.02% |0.03% |style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04% |- |Other race alone (NH) |13,483 |15,158 |style='background: #ffffe6; |45,217 |0.12% |0.13% |style='background: #ffffe6; |0.38% |- |Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) |137,770 |203,223 |style='background: #ffffe6; |501,562 |1.21% |1.76% |style='background: #ffffe6; |4.25% |- |Hispanic or Latino (any race) |217,123 |354,674 |style='background: #ffffe6; |521,308 |1.91% |3.07% |style='background: #ffffe6; |4.42% |- |'''Total''' |'''11,353,140''' |'''11,536,504''' |style='background: #ffffe6; |'''11,799,448''' |'''100.00%''' |'''100.00%''' |style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%''' |}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;" |+ '''Ohio historic racial breakdown of population''' |- ! class="unsortable" | Racial and ethnic composition ! 1990<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725044857/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html|archive-date=July 25, 2008|title=Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States|date=September 2002 |website= U. S. Census Bureau |first1=Campbell |last1=Gibson |first2=Kay |last2=Jung }}</ref> ! 2000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://censusviewer.com/city/OH|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005113147/https://censusviewer.com/city/OH|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 5, 2024|title=Population of Ohio: Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts|website=Censusviewer.com|access-date=April 17, 2021}}</ref> ! 2010<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html|title=US Census Bureau 2010 Census|website=Census.gov|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-date=May 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522200920/https://census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ! 2020<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDP2020.DP1?g=040XX00US39 |title=Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2020 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Ohio |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 16, 2024 |archive-date=April 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416221848/https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDP2020.DP1?g=040XX00US39 |url-status=live }}</ref> |- | White || 87.8% || 85.0% || 82.7% || 77.0% |- | African American || 10.6% || 11.5% || 12.2% || 12.5% |- | Asian || 0.8% || 1.2% || 1.7% || 2.5% |- | Native || 0.2% || 0.2% || 0.2% || 0.3% |- | Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander || – || – || – || – |- | Other race || 0.5% || 0.8% || 1.1% || 1.9% |- | Two or more races || – || 1.4% || 2.1% || 5.8% |}

In 2010, there were 469,700 foreign-born residents in Ohio, corresponding to 4.1% of the total population. Of these, 229,049 (2.0%) were naturalized U.S. citizens and 240,699 (2.1%) were not.<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov">{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212212624/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02&prodType=table|archive-date=February 12, 2020|title=American FactFinder—Results|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|website=factfinder2.census.gov|access-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref> The largest groups were:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B05006&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212054818/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B05006&prodType=table|archive-date=February 12, 2020|title=American FactFinder—Results|website=factfinder2.census.gov|access-date=September 6, 2013}}</ref> Mexico (54,166), India (50,256), China (34,901), Germany (19,219), Philippines (16,410), United Kingdom (15,917), Canada (14,223), Russia (11,763), South Korea (11,307), and Ukraine (10,681). Though predominantly white, Ohio has large black populations in all major metropolitan areas throughout the state, Ohio has a significant Hispanic population made up of Mexicans in Toledo and Columbus, and Puerto Ricans in Cleveland and Columbus, and also has a significant and diverse Asian population in Columbus.

Ancestry groups (which the census defines as not including racial terms) in the state were:<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150118121537/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|archive-date=January 18, 2015|title=American FactFinder—Results|website=factfinder2.census.gov|access-date=March 28, 2013}}</ref> 26.5% German, 14.1% Irish, 9.0% English, 6.4% Italian, 3.8% Polish, 2.5% French, 1.9% Scottish, 1.7% Hungarian, 1.6% Dutch, 1.5% Mexican, 1.2% Slovak, 1.1% Welsh, and 1.1% Scotch-Irish. Ancestries claimed by less than 1% of the population include Sub-Saharan African, Puerto Rican, Swiss, Swedish, Arab, Greek, Norwegian, Romanian, Austrian, Lithuanian, Finnish, West Indian, Portuguese and Slovene.

===Languages=== [[File:AmishRakingHay.jpg|thumb|An Amish farmer raking hay in southeast Ohio]]

About 6.7% of the population age 5 years and older reported speaking a language other than English, with 2.2% of the population speaking Spanish, 2.6% speaking other Indo-European languages, 1.1% speaking Asian and Austronesian languages, and 0.8% speaking other languages.<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov"/> Numerically: 10,100,586 spoke English, 239,229 Spanish, 55,970 German, 38,990 Chinese, 33,125 Arabic, and 32,019 French. In addition, 59,881 spoke a Slavic language and 42,673 spoke another West Germanic language according to the 2010 census.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B16001&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212213140/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B16001&prodType=table|archive-date=February 12, 2020|title=American FactFinder—Results|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|website=factfinder2.census.gov|access-date=March 20, 2013}}</ref> Ohio also had the nation's largest population of Slovene speakers, second largest of Slovak speakers, second largest of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) speakers, and the third largest of Serbian speakers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_langlist&mode=lang_tops|title=Data Center Language List|access-date=December 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930024604/http://www.mla.org/map_data_langlist%26mode%3Dlang_tops|archive-date=September 30, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Religion=== {{Pie chart | caption = Religious self-identification, per Public Religion Research Institute's 2021 ''American Values Survey''<ref name="Staff-2023">{{cite web |last=Staff |date=February 24, 2023 |title=American Values Atlas: Religious Tradition in Ohio |url=https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2021/States/religion/m/US-OH |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Public Religion Research Institute |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404161714/https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2021/States/religion/m/US-OH }}</ref> | label1 = Protestantism | value1 = 46 | color1 = Blue | label2 = Catholicism | value2 = 18 | color2 = Purple | label3 = Unaffiliated | value3 = 30 | color3 = White | label4 = Judaism | value4 = 2 | color4 = Teal | label5 = Hinduism | value5 = 1 | color5 = Orange | label6 = Other | value6 = 3 | color6 = Black }}

According to Public Religion Research Institute's 2021 ''American Values Survey'', 64% of Ohioans identified as Christian. Specifically, 19% of Ohio's population identified as Mainline Protestant, 17% as Evangelical Protestant, 7% as Historically Black Protestant, and 18% as Catholic. Roughly 30% of the population were unaffiliated with any religious body. Small minorities of Jews (2%), Hindus (1%), Jehovah's Witnesses (<1%), Muslims (<1%), Buddhists (<1%), Mormons (<1%), and other faiths exist according to this study.<ref name="Staff-2023" /> Altogether, those identifying with a religion or spiritual tradition were 70% of the state's population.

Per the Association of Religion Data Archives's (ARDA) 2020 study, Christianity remained the predominant religion. Non-denominational Christianity, numbering 1,411,863, were the largest Protestant cohort, although Catholicism remained the single-largest denomination with 1,820,233 adherents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maps and data files for 2020 {{!}} U.S. Religion Census {{!}} Religious Statistics & Demographics |url=https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.usreligioncensus.org |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115001940/https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the ARDA, in 2010 the largest Christian denominations by adherents were the Catholic Church with 1,992,567; the United Methodist Church with 496,232; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 223,253, the Southern Baptist Convention with 171,000, the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ with 141,311, the United Church of Christ with 118,000, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) with 110,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/39/rcms2010_39_state_adh_2010.asp |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives | State Membership Report |publisher=www.thearda.com |access-date=December 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217025357/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/39/rcms2010_39_state_adh_2010.asp |archive-date=December 17, 2013 }}</ref> With about 80,000 adherents in 2020, Ohio had the second largest Amish population of all U.S. states, only behind neighboring Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/statistics/statistics-population-2020/ |title=Amish Population Profile, 2020 |date=August 18, 2019 |website=Elizabethtown College, the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies |access-date=February 5, 2021 |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111151807/https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/statistics/statistics-population-2020/ }}</ref>

According to a Pew Forum poll in 2014, a majority of Ohioans, 56%, felt religion was "very important", 25% that it was "somewhat important", and 19% that religion was "not too important/not important at all". Among them, 38% of Ohioans indicate that they attend religious services at least once weekly, 32% occasionally, and 30% seldom or never.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/ohio/ |title=Religious Landscape Study |date=May 11, 2015 |access-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164701/http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/ohio/ |archive-date=March 17, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Economy== {{main|Economy of Ohio}} {{See also|Ohio locations by per capita income}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Cleveland Clinic Miller Family Pavilion (2021).png | caption1 = Cleveland Clinic is one of Ohio's largest employers and is included in the top hospital systems worldwide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adler |first1=Jerry |title=What Health Reform Can Learn From Cleveland Clinic |url=https://www.newsweek.com/what-health-reform-can-learn-cleveland-clinic-76971 |work=Newsweek |date=November 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. News Rankings |url=https://my.clevelandclinic.org/about/us-news-rankings |access-date=2019-04-10 |publisher=Cleveland Clinic |language=en}}</ref> | image2 = Global Medic 130726-F-AF679-968.jpg | caption2 = Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, is among the U.S. military's largest bases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.development.ohio.gov/research/files/B409000000.pdf|title=WPAFB Introduction Information|access-date=6 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803171240/http://www.development.ohio.gov/research/files/B409000000.pdf|archive-date=3 August 2010}}</ref> }}

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total number of people employed in 2023 was 5,081,279. The total number of unique employer establishments was 255,049, while the total number of non-employer establishments was 909,227.<ref name="United States Census Quick Facts Ohio">{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/OH |access-date=January 4, 2025|title= United States Census Quick Facts Ohio}}</ref> In 2010, Ohio was ranked second in the country for best business climate by Site Selection magazine, based on a business-activity database.<ref>{{cite web |title=Site Selection Rankings|url=http://greyhill.com/site-selection-rankings/|publisher=Greyhill Advisors|access-date=October 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106074019/http://greyhill.com/site-selection-rankings/|archive-date=November 6, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The state has also won three consecutive Governor's Cup awards from the magazine, based on business growth and developments.<ref>[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/columbus-chamber-announces-ohio-ranked,1053857.shtml "Columbus Chamber Announces Ohio Ranked on 'Top 10 Business Climates' List for 2009"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908010816/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/columbus-chamber-announces-ohio-ranked,1053857.shtml |date=September 8, 2012 }}, Earth Times. Retrieved November 19, 2009.</ref> Ohio's gross domestic product (GDP) was $626 billion in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=sic&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels#reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7004=naics&7035=-1&7005=1&7006=xx&7001=1200&7036=-1&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels|title=Bureau of Economic Analysis |publisher=US Department of Commerce, BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis|website=Bea.gov|access-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043848/https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=sic&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels#reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7004=naics&7035=-1&7005=1&7006=xx&7001=1200&7036=-1&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels|archive-date=August 31, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> This ranks Ohio's economy as the seventh-largest among all 50 states and Washington, D.C.<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009">{{cite web |title=Economic Overview |publisher=Ohio Department of Development |date=February 2009 |url=http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/E000.pdf |access-date=March 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326141110/http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/E000.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2009 }}</ref> In 2025, 99.6% of businesses in Ohio were small businesses, which employed 2.2 million people, or 43.8% of the state's work force.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2025 Small Business Profile - Ohio |url=https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ohio_2025-State-Profile.pdf |access-date=February 17, 2026 |website=U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy}}</ref>

Ohio's unemployment rate stands at 4.9% as of May 2025,<ref>{{Cite web |last=staff |first=CNBC com |date=2025-07-10 |title=5. Ohio |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/10/ohio-top-states-for-business-ranking.html |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref> down from 10.7% in May 2010.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/lau/ Bls.gov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725005015/https://www.bls.gov/lau/ |date=July 25, 2018 }}; Local Area Unemployment Statistics</ref><ref>[http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20100623/NEWS01/6230317/1002/NEWS01 "Jobless rates fall again in southeastern Ohio"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101003327/http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20100623/NEWS01/6230317/1002/NEWS01 |date=November 1, 2013 }}, Zanesville Times-Recorder. June 23, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2010.</ref> In 2015, the state was lacking 45,000 jobs compared to the pre-recession numbers of 2007.<ref name="Olivera Perkins-2015">{{Cite web |last=Olivera Perkins |first=The Plain Dealer |date=2015-05-22 |title=Ohio's unemployment rate up to 5.2 percent: 5 things you need to know |url=https://www.cleveland.com/business/2015/05/ohios_unemployment_rate_up_to.html |access-date=2026-01-07 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref> The labor force participation as of April 2015 is 63%, slightly above the national average.<ref name="Olivera Perkins-2015"/> {{As of|2023}}, Ohio's per capita income was $60,402, ranking 38th in the U.S., and the state's median household income was $65,720.<ref>{{cite web | last=Account | first=Economic | title=Personal Income by State | website=U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) | date=2024-03-29 | url=https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/personal-income-by-state | access-date=2024-05-24 | archive-date=May 20, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520010339/https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/personal-income-by-state | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher=United States Census Bureau | title=S1901: Income in the Past 12 Months | website=Explore Census Data | url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2022.S1901 | access-date=2024-05-24 | archive-date=May 20, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520023444/https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2022.S1901 | url-status=live }}</ref> Also in 2023, 13.4% of the population was living below the poverty line.<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/205501/poverty-rate-in-ohio/ Poverty Rate in Ohio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608133925/https://www.statista.com/statistics/205501/poverty-rate-in-ohio/ |date=June 8, 2021 }} Statista.</ref>

The manufacturing and financial activities sectors each compose 18.3% of Ohio's GDP, making them Ohio's largest industries by percentage of GDP.<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009" /> Ohio has the third largest manufacturing workforce behind California and Texas.<ref>[https://tcf.org/content/report/manufacturing-high-wage-ohio/ Manufacturing a High-Wage Ohio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324224136/https://tcf.org/content/report/manufacturing-high-wage-ohio/ |date=March 24, 2018 }} Accessed March 24, 2018</ref><ref>[http://wksu.org/post/ohio-remains-among-top-three-states-manufacturing-employment-and-wages#stream/0 Ohio Remains Among The Top Three States for Manufacturing Employment and Wages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325045109/http://wksu.org/post/ohio-remains-among-top-three-states-manufacturing-employment-and-wages#stream/0 |date=March 25, 2018 }} Retrieved March 24, 2018</ref> Ohio has the largest bioscience sector in the Midwest, and is a national leader in the "green" economy. Ohio is the largest producer in the country of plastics, rubber, fabricated metals, electrical equipment, and appliances.<ref>[http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/E000.pdf "Economic Overview"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326141110/http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/E000.pdf |date=March 26, 2009 }}, Ohio Department of Development, p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2009.</ref> 5,212,000 Ohioans are currently employed by wage or salary.<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009" />

By employment, Ohio's largest sector is trade/transportation/utilities, which employs 1,010,000 Ohioans, or 19.4% of Ohio's workforce, while the health care and education sector employs 825,000 Ohioans (15.8%).<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009" /> Government employs 787,000 Ohioans (15.1%), manufacturing employs 669,000 Ohioans (12.9%), and professional and technical services employs 638,000 Ohioans (12.2%).<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009" /> Ohio's manufacturing sector is the third-largest of all fifty United States states in terms of gross domestic product.<ref name="Ohio Department of Development-2009" /> Fifty-nine of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies (by revenue in 2008) are headquartered in Ohio, including Procter & Gamble, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, AK Steel, Timken, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Wendy's.<ref>{{cite magazine| title = Fortune 500 2008| magazine = Money (magazine)| date = May 5, 2008| url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/states/OH.html| access-date = March 31, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090226040210/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/states/OH.html| archive-date = February 26, 2009| url-status = dead}}</ref>

Ohio is also one of 41 states with its own lottery,<ref>{{cite web |title = Lottery Results |publisher = Office of Citizen Services and Communications, General Services Administration |url = http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Lottery_Results.shtml |format = SHTML| access-date = March 31, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111127153145/http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Lottery_Results.shtml |archive-date = November 27, 2011}}</ref> the Ohio Lottery.<ref>{{cite web |title= About the Ohio Lottery |publisher= Ohio Lottery Commission |year= 2008 |url= http://www.ohiolottery.com/about/about_us.html |access-date = March 31, 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090331172600/http://www.ohiolottery.com/about/about_us.html |archive-date = March 31, 2009}}</ref> {{As of|2020}}, the Ohio Lottery has contributed more than $26 billion to education beginning in 1974.<ref>[https://www.sciotopost.com/local-circleville-lottery-winner-name-released/ Local Circleville Lottery Winner Name Released] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608142545/https://www.sciotopost.com/local-circleville-lottery-winner-name-released/ |date=June 8, 2021}} The Scioto Press. September 25, 2020.</ref>

Income inequality in Ohio, both before and after taxes, has risen significantly since the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |title = The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2011|url = https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440|website = Congressional Budget Office|date = 12 November 2014|access-date = 2015-12-10|archive-date = February 25, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200225015444/https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440|url-status = live}}</ref> Ohio's overall income grew in Ohio from 2009 to 2012, with an overall 7.1% increase in income growth. The top 1% had a 37.0% in income growth, while the bottom 99% grew their income by only 2.3%. The top 1% accounted for 71.9% of the overall shared income during this period.<ref>{{cite web |title = The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2012|url = http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/|website = Economic Policy Institute|access-date = 2015-11-12|archive-date = December 5, 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231205153618/https://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/|url-status = live}}</ref> The burden of income tax falls disproportionately on lower-income tax brackets. In 2018, the bottom 20% of earners contributed 12.3% of their income towards various taxes, while the top 1% only paid 6.5%.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schladen |first=Marty |date=2023-04-18 |title=Economists: Ohio flat-tax would worsen inequality |url=https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/04/18/economists-ohio-flat-tax-would-worsen-inequality/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Ohio Capital Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108152429/https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/04/18/economists-ohio-flat-tax-would-worsen-inequality/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Culture==

===Art=== [[File:Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|With about 770,000 annual visitors, the Cleveland Museum of Art is among the most visited art museums in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2019/01/cleveland-museum-of-art-hit-record-attendance-in-2018-thanks-to-kusama-front-and-new-programs.html|title=Cleveland Museum of Art hit record attendance in 2018, thanks to Kusama, FRONT and new programs|last=Litt|first=Steven|date=January 15, 2019|work=cleveland.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116043636/https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2019/01/cleveland-museum-of-art-hit-record-attendance-in-2018-thanks-to-kusama-front-and-new-programs.html|archive-date=January 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Art in Ohio includes major museums and university galleries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, founded in 1913, houses collections of Asian, European, Egyptian, and American art.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clevelandart.org/about/press/general-museum-information |title=General Museum Information |access-date=March 23, 2015 |archive-date=October 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016164810/http://www.clevelandart.org/about/press/general-museum-information }}</ref> Other major museums include the Toledo Museum of Art, known for its glass collection, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, one of the oldest art museums in the Midwest. Ohio also contains specialized such as the Butler Institute of American Art, the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art.<ref>{{cite news| title = Art Institute Gets Bulk of $1,5000,000 J. G. Butler Estate| work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator| date = December 29, 1927}}</ref> Contemporary art institutions include the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Many Ohio museums developed through donations by private donors and partnerships with universities. Institutions such as the Allen Memorial Art Museum, affiliated with Oberlin College, and the Wexner Center for the Arts, affiliated with Ohio State University, combine public exhibitions with academic programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.oberlin.edu/amam/building.html|title=About Our Building - Allen Memorial Art Museum - Oberlin College|website=www2.oberlin.edu|access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Lantern|url=https://www.thelantern.com/2000/08/what-will-become-of-osus-art-collections/|title=What will become of OSU's art collections?|last=Jones|first=Emily L.|date=August 13, 2000|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref> Statewide arts funding is administered in part through the Ohio Arts Council, which supports museums, galleries, exhibitions, and arts organizations throughout the state.<ref>{{cite web | title=About the Agency | website=Ohio Arts Council | date=March 24, 2023 | url=https://oac.ohio.gov/about/about-the-agency | access-date=May 15, 2026}}</ref>

Ohio also contains performing arts institutions focused on theater and dance. Playhouse Square in Cleveland is the nation's second-largest performing arts center, home to ten theaters.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.playhousesquare.org/about-playhousesquare-main/about-playhousesquare| title = About Playhouse Square| access-date = October 4, 2020| archive-date = May 14, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160514113908/http://www.playhousesquare.org/about-playhousesquare-main/about-playhousesquare| url-status = live}}</ref> The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts manages seven historic Columbus area theaters.<ref>{{cite news |title=CAPA to manage Toledo theater |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/06/22/daily3.html |date=June 22, 2009 |newspaper=Business First of Columbus |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123161842/https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/06/22/daily3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Other theater institutions include the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and numerous university-affiliated theater programs.

===Cuisine=== {{main|Cuisine of Ohio}} [[File:4-way Cincinnati chili from Camp Washington Chili in Cincinnati OH USA.jpg|thumb|Cincinnati chili (pictured here as a "four-way") is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs.]]

Buckeyes are a variation of standard peanut butter cups popular in Ohio. Coated in chocolate with a partially exposed center of peanut butter fudge, the candy resembles the appearance of the nut that grows on the state tree, commonly known as the buckeye. The Klondike bar originated in Mansfield in 1922.<ref>{{cite web |last=Whitmire |first=Lou |title=Mansfield Klondike bar, created by William Isaly, turns 100 |url=https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/02/13/mansfield-klondike-bar-created-william-isaly-turns-100/6733596001/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Mansfield News Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Dum Dums lollipops were originally produced in Bellevue, Ohio in 1924, and have been made by Spangler Candy Company in Bryan, Ohio since 1953.<ref>{{cite web |last=Reality |first=T. R. G. |title=The Ohio Town Where Dum Dums Lollipops Are Made |url=https://www.ohiomagazine.com/food-drink/article/candy-crush |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=www.ohiomagazine.com |language=en}}</ref>

Cincinnati-style chili is a Greek-inspired meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs. Additionally, red beans, chopped onions, and shredded cheese are offered as extra toppings referred to as "ways".<ref>{{cite book |title=500 Things to Eat Before it's Too Late:and the Very Best Places to Eat Them |author=Stern, Jane and Michael |year=2009 |page=244 |author-link=Jane and Michael Stern}}</ref> German immigrants in Cincinnati invented goetta, a breakfast sausage made of meat scraps, spices, and oats. It is typically eaten fried.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rife |first=Katie |date=December 6, 2017 |title=Goetta, Cincinnati's Second Most-Famous Food, Is A Sausage For The Working Man |url=https://www.thetakeout.com/goetta-cincinnati-s-second-most-famous-food-is-a-saus-1798256324/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=The Takeout |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=August 10, 2018 |title=Goetta: The Cincinnati German-American Breakfast Staple |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/goetta-the-cincinnati-german-american-breakfast-staple |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Serious Eats |language=en |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121173238/https://www.seriouseats.com/goetta-the-cincinnati-german-american-breakfast-staple |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Furbee |first=Bill |title='Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History' is a New Book About This Classic Cincinnati Dish |url=https://www.citybeat.com/food-drink/cincinnati-goetta-a-delectable-history-is-a-new-book-about-this-classic-cincinnati-dish-12217325 |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Cincinnati CityBeat |date=July 29, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Other local dishes include the Polish Boy, "the signature sandwich of Cleveland",<ref>{{cite web |title=49 Best Hot Dogs in the World |url=https://www.tasteatlas.com/best-rated-hot-dogs-in-the-world |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=www.tasteatlas.com}}</ref> a kielbasa sausage topped with coleslaw, French fries, and barbecue sauce and served on a bun.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chakerian |first=Peter |date=February 1, 2024 |title=Iconic Polish Boy is a whirlwind of texture, flavor sensations: Classic CLE Eats & Drinks |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/02/iconic-polish-boy-is-a-whirlwind-of-texture-flavor-sensations-classic-cle-eats-drinks.html?outputType=amp |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref> Johnny Marzetti is a casserole dish thought to have originated from Columbus and consisting of some variation of noodles, ground beef, tomatoes, and cheese.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pandolfi |first=Keith |date=May 10, 2017 |title=Here's Johnny Marzetti, Ohio's Crowd-Pleasing Casserole |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-johnny-marzetti-ohios-crowd-pleasing-casserole-1494435682 |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=City Quotient: What is Columbus' definitive local food? |url=https://www.columbusmonthly.com/content/stories/2014/08/city-quotient-what-is-columbus-definitive-local-food.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019042208/https://www.columbusmonthly.com/content/stories/2014/08/city-quotient-what-is-columbus-definitive-local-food.html |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=Columbus Monthly |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ohio has hosted nationwide fast food companies, including the first Arby's,<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark C. |last=Peyko |title=Arby's founder discusses legacy of fast-food chain that began in Youngstown |magazine=Metro Monthly |date=October 9, 2014 |url=https://metromonthly.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/arbys-founder-discusses-legacy-of-fast-food-chain-that-began-in-youngstown/ |access-date=January 14, 2025 }}</ref> Buffalo Wild Wings,<ref>{{cite web |last=Moorman |first=Taijuan |title=Buffalo Wild Wings, Wendy's and more restaurants that got their start in Columbus, Ohio |url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/07/19/popular-restaurant-chains-that-began-in-and-around-columbus-ohio-buffalo-wild-wings-wendys/70341931007/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=The Columbus Dispatch |language=en-US}}</ref> Stewart's,<ref>{{cite web |last=Hatala |first=Greg |date=October 8, 2015 |title=Glimpse of History: An American original in Clark |url=https://www.nj.com/union/2015/10/glimpse_of_history_an_american_original_in_clark.html |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=nj.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= |date=April 27, 2019 |title=Stewart's Root Beer stand began in 1924 in Mansfield |url=https://www.richlandsource.com/2019/04/27/stewarts-root-beer-stand-began-in-1924-in-mansfield/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=Richland Source |language=en-US}}</ref> and Wendy's;<ref>{{cite web |last=Clark |first=John M. |date=February 28, 2023 |title=The forgotten story of the first-ever Wendy's restaurant |url=https://614now.com/2023/food-drink/the-forgotten-story-of-the-first-ever-wendys-location-on-east-broad-street |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=614NOW |language=en-US}}</ref> the latter is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. The hamburger chain White Castle is also based in Columbus.<ref>{{cite web |last=Weiker |first=Jim |title=White Castle moves into new headquarters |url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2019/11/19/white-castle-moves-into-new/2250767007/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |website=The Columbus Dispatch |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Music=== {{main|Music of Ohio}} [[File:HOF-Guitars - Guitars outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.jpg|thumb|The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland]]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame are both located in Cleveland. Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with coining the term and promoting rock and roll in the early 1950s; Freed hosted the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first live rock and roll concert in Cleveland in 1952.<ref name = "BBCFreed"/>. Cincinnati is home to the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Six Ohio musicians or groups are Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members: Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters), the Isley Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, Bobby Womack, Benjamin Orr (of The Cars), and Chrissie Hynde (of The Pretenders), in addition to Alan Freed.

Other musicians from Ohio have contributed to a wide range of music genres. Early 20th century performers included blues singer Mamie Smith and polka musician Frankie Yankovic, while mid-century popular entertainers included Dean Martin, Doris Day, and the McGuire Sisters. Ohio later produced artists associated with rhythm and blues and funk, including Howard Hewett, Shirley Murdock, and Bootsy Collins. Rock and alternative acts from the state include Devo, Marilyn Manson, The Black Keys, Twenty One Pilots, and Starset, while later hip hop and pop performers include Kid Cudi and John Legend.

The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the historic Big Five orchestras in the U.S. and considered among the best worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/the-world%E2%80%99s-greatest-orchestras|title=The World's Greatest Orchestras|website=Gramophone.co.uk|access-date=April 17, 2021|archive-date=February 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224060051/http://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/the-world%E2%80%99s-greatest-orchestras|url-status=live}}</ref> Many other Ohio cities are home to their own orchestras, including the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. Cincinnati is also home to the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and Cincinnati Opera, all of which (including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) are housed at Cincinnati Music Hall. Dayton is also home to a ballet, orchestra, and opera, collectively known as the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.

Within the marching arts, Winter Guard International hosted its national championships in performing arts at the University of Dayton 18 times between 1983 and 2003, and has permanently since 2005. The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Canton, compete in Drum Corps International's highest circuit.

===Sports=== {{main|Sports in Ohio}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Ohio Stadium Overhead.jpg | caption1 = Ohio Stadium in Columbus is the fifth-largest stadium in the world. | image2 = Pro Football Hall of Fame (23945852607).jpg | caption2 = The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, where the National Football League was founded in 1920. }}

Ohio is home to eight major professional sports teams across the five major North American leagues: the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball,<ref>{{cite web | title = The Official Site of the Cincinnati Reds| publisher = Major League Baseball| url = http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cin| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080404013847/http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cin| archive-date = April 4, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = The Official Site of the Cleveland Guardians| publisher = Major League Baseball| url = http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090315191341/http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle| archive-date = March 15, 2009}}</ref> the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League,<ref>{{cite web |title = NFL Teams |website = National Football League| url = http://www.nfl.com/teams| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110223135832/http://www.nfl.com/teams| archive-date = February 23, 2011| url-status = live}}</ref> the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association,<ref>{{cite web | title = NBA.com Team Index| publisher = National Basketball Association| url = http://www.nba.com/teams/index.html| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090318064233/http://www.nba.com/teams/index.html| archive-date = March 18, 2009| url-status = live}}</ref> the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League,<ref>{{cite web | title = NHL Teams| website = National Hockey League| url = http://www.nhl.com/ice/teams.htm| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090311030113/http://www.nhl.com/ice/teams.htm| archive-date = March 11, 2009| url-status = live}}</ref> and the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Major League Soccer Teams |publisher=Major League Soccer |url=http://www.mlsnet.com/teams/ |access-date=March 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221025932/http://www.mlsnet.com/teams/ |archive-date=February 21, 2009 }}</ref> Ohio teams have won multiple national championships, including seven World Series titles, three MLS Cups, one NBA championship, and nine NFL championships prior to the Super Bowl era. The state also hosts numerous minor league and lower-division teams. Ohio also hosts major individual sporting events, including the Memorial Tournament in golf and the Cincinnati Open in tennis, as well as prominent motorsports venues such as the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Eldora Speedway.

Ohio played a central role in the development of both Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Baseball's first fully professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, were organized in Ohio.<ref>{{cite web | last = Griffith| first = Grant| title = Legend of the Cincinnati Red Stockings| publisher = Cincinnati Vintage Base Ball Club| year = 2007| url = http://www.1869reds.com/history/| access-date = March 28, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724175805/http://www.1869reds.com/history| archive-date = July 24, 2008}}</ref> An informal early-20th-century American football association, the Ohio League, was the direct predecessor of the modern NFL, although neither of Ohio's modern NFL franchises trace their roots to an Ohio League club. The NFL itself was founded in Canton, Ohio, in 1920 as the American Professional Football Conference.<ref name="Timeline Detail | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site"/> The first official game occurred on October 3, 1920, when the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14–0 in Dayton.<ref name="Triangle Park">{{cite web | url=http://www.daytonlocal.com/blog/community/triangle-park-site-of-first-game-in-the-nfl.asp | title=Triangle Park: Site of First Game In The NFL | access-date=February 21, 2022 | archive-date=February 21, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221222947/https://www.daytonlocal.com/blog/community/triangle-park-site-of-first-game-in-the-nfl.asp | url-status=live }}</ref> Canton was enshrined as the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.<ref name="Maroon-2006"/>

College athletics are also prominent in Ohio, which has eight NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The Ohio State Buckeyes, competing in the Big Ten Conference, are among the most successful programs in college football history, with multiple national championships and Heisman Trophy winners. The Cincinnati Bearcats compete in the Big 12 Conference, while six teams are represented in the Mid-American Conference: the Akron Zips, Bowling Green Falcons, Kent State Golden Flashes, Miami RedHawks, Ohio Bobcats and Toledo Rockets. Other Division I institutions include the Xavier Musketeers and Youngstown State Penguins. In addition, Ohio has 12 NCAA Division II programs and 22 NCAA Division III programs.

==Government and politics==

===State government=== {{main|Government of Ohio}} [[File:Ohio Statehouse exterior.jpg|thumb|The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus is home to the Ohio General Assembly.]]

The state government of Ohio consists of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.<ref name="Ohio General Assembly">{{cite web | title = Constitution Online | publisher = Ohio General Assembly | url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=01 | access-date = March 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052752/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=01 | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Constitution Online | publisher = Ohio General Assembly | url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=01 | access-date = March 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023513/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=01 | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Constitution Online | publisher = Ohio General Assembly | url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=2&Section=01 | access-date = March 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160404181108/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=2&Section=01 | archive-date = April 4, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref> In order to be enacted into law, a bill must be adopted by both houses of the Ohio General Assembly and signed by the governor of Ohio. If the governor vetoes a bill, the General Assembly can override the veto with a three-fifths supermajority of both houses. A bill will also become a law if the governor fails to sign or veto it within 10 days of its being presented. The session laws are published in the official ''Law of Ohio''.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=31-32}} These in turn have been codified in the ''Ohio Revised Code''.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=65-66}}

The executive branch is headed by the aforementioned governor of Ohio.<ref name="Ohio General Assembly" /> The current governor is Mike DeWine since 2019, a member of the Republican Party.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Governors of Ohio |publisher=Ohio Historical Society |date=January 8, 2007 |url=http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/ohgovernment/governors/ |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605224802/http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/ohgovernment/governors/ |archive-date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref> A lieutenant governor succeeds the governor in the event of any removal from office, and performs any duties assigned by the governor.<ref>{{cite web | title = Constitution Online| publisher = Ohio General Assembly| url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=15| access-date = March 25, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181001114549/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=15| archive-date = October 1, 2018| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Constitution Online| publisher = Ohio General Assembly| url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=01b| access-date = March 25, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024808/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=3&Section=01b| archive-date = March 4, 2016| url-status = live}}</ref> The current lieutenant governor is Jim Tressel since 2025. The other elected constitutional offices in the executive branch are the secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney general.<ref name="Ohio General Assembly" /> There are 21 state administrative departments in the executive branch.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Ohio Executive Branch|pages=263–264|title=Ohio Politics|first=John J.|last=Gargan|editor-first=Mary Anne|editor-last=Sharkey|year=1994|publisher=Kent State University Press|isbn=0-87338-509-8|lccn=94-7637|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7hkbUXIQdwC&pg=PA264|access-date=February 10, 2021|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216234435/https://books.google.com/books?id=v7hkbUXIQdwC&pg=PA264|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Ohio Revised Code § 121.01 ''et seq.'' Ohio Revised Code § 5703.01 ''et seq.'' Ohio Revised Code § 3301.13.</ref>

The Ohio General Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio General Assembly |publisher=Ohio History Central |date=July 1, 2005 |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2126 |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828082257/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2126 |archive-date=August 28, 2008 }}</ref> The Senate is composed of 33 districts, each of which is represented by one senator. Each senator represents approximately 330,000 constituents.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Population_represented_by_state_legislators |title=Population represented by state legislators—Ballotpedia|access-date=March 6, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318010456/https://ballotpedia.org/Population_represented_by_state_legislators|archive-date=March 18, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The House of Representatives has 99 members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Government |publisher=Congressman Michael Turner |url=http://turner.house.gov/District/Government.htm |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325134028/http://turner.house.gov/District/Government.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref> The General Assembly, with the approval of the governor, draws the U.S. congressional district lines for Ohio's 16 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The Ohio Apportionment Board draws state legislative district lines in Ohio.

[[File:Ohio State Office Building 2.jpg|thumb|The Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center holds the Supreme Court of Ohio.]]

There are three levels of the Ohio state judiciary. The lowest is the court of common pleas: each county maintains its own constitutionally mandated court of common pleas, which maintain jurisdiction over "all justiciable matters".<ref name="Ohio General Assembly-2">{{cite web |title=Constitution Online |publisher=Ohio General Assembly |url=https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=04 |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052233/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=04 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The intermediate-level court system is the district court system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ohio District Courts of Appeal |publisher=Ohio Judiciary System |url=http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JudSystem/districtCourts/ |access-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514001636/http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JudSystem/districtCourts/ |archive-date=May 14, 2009}}</ref> Twelve courts of appeals exist, each retaining jurisdiction over appeals from common pleas, municipal, and county courts in a set geographical area.<ref name="Ohio General Assembly-2" /> A case heard in this system is decided by a three-judge panel, and each judge is elected.<ref name="Ohio General Assembly-2" /> The state's highest-ranking court is the Ohio Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Supreme Court of Ohio Jurisdiction & Authority | publisher = The Ohio Judicial System | url = http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/SCO/jurisdiction/default.asp | access-date = March 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090314015128/http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/SCO/jurisdiction/default.asp | archive-date = March 14, 2009 | url-status = live }}</ref> A seven-justice panel composes the court, which, by its own discretion, hears appeals from the courts of appeals, and retains original jurisdiction over limited matters.<ref>{{cite web | title = Constitution Online | publisher = Ohio General Assembly | year = 2009 | url = https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=02 | access-date = March 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160404171811/https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution?Part=4&Section=02 | archive-date = April 4, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Local government=== {{see also|List of counties in Ohio|List of municipalities in Ohio|List of townships in Ohio}}

There are also several levels of local government in Ohio: counties, municipalities (cities and villages), townships, special districts, and school districts.

Ohio is divided into 88 counties.<ref>{{citation|title=Individual State Descriptions: 2007|series=2007 Census of Governments|date=November 2012|page=235|publisher=United States Census Bureau|url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf|ref={{harvid|Census|2007}}|access-date=February 27, 2022|archive-date=November 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123173109/http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Ohio law defines a structure for county government, although they may adopt charters for home rule.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ohiolegalresearc0000putn/page/106 106]–114}} Summit County{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} and Cuyahoga County<ref>{{cite web |url=http://council.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_council/en-US/Legislation/Charter/2018/COUNTY%20CHARTER%20WITH%20EXECUTED%20CERTIFICATE%20PAGE%20AS%20OF%2011-6-2018.pdf |title=Charter |date=2018 |website=council.cuyahogacounty.us |access-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-date=January 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121224/http://council.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_council/en-US/Legislation/Charter/2018/COUNTY%20CHARTER%20WITH%20EXECUTED%20CERTIFICATE%20PAGE%20AS%20OF%2011-6-2018.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> have chosen an alternate form of government. The other counties have a government with a three-member board of county commissioners,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 305.01 ''et seq.''</ref> a sheriff,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 311.01</ref> coroner,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 313.01</ref> auditor,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 319.01</ref> treasurer,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 321.01</ref> clerk of the court of common pleas<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 2303.01</ref> prosecutor,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 309.01</ref> engineer,<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 315.01</ref> and recorder.<ref>Ohio Revised Code § 317.01</ref>

There are two kinds of incorporated municipalities, 251 cities and 681 villages.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Ohio Secretary of State |title=The Ohio Municipal, Township and School Board Roster |url=http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#munros |access-date=February 27, 2022 |archive-date=July 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719184750/http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#munros }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL1.ST13&prodType=table|title=American FactFinder - Results|publisher=U. S. Census Bureau|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=July 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203070753/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL1.ST13&prodType=table|archive-date=December 3, 2017}}</ref> If a municipality has five thousand or more residents as of the last United States Census it is a city, otherwise it is a village.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/703.01 |title=Ohio Revised Code Section 703.01(A) |access-date=September 12, 2007 |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718075908/http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/703.01 |url-status=live}}</ref> Municipalities have full home rule powers, may adopt a charter, ordinances and resolutions for self-government.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=106-114}} Each municipality chooses its own form of government, but most have elected mayors and city councils or city commissions. City governments provide much more extensive services than county governments, such as police forces and paid (as opposed to volunteer) fire departments.

The entire area of the state is encompassed by townships.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} When the boundaries of a township are coterminous with the boundaries of a city or village, the township ceases to exist as a separate government (called a paper township).{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} Townships are governed by a three-member board of township trustees.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} Townships may have limited home rule powers.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=110-111}}

There are more than 600 city, local, and exempted village school districts providing K-12 education in Ohio, as well as about four dozen joint vocation school districts, which are separate from the K-12 districts. Each city school district, local school district, or exempted village school district is governed by an elected board of education.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} A school district previously under state supervision (municipal school district) may be governed by a board whose members either are elected or appointed by the mayor of the municipality containing the greatest portion of the district's area.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}

===Politics=== {{main|Politics of Ohio}} {{See also|Elections in Ohio|Political party strength in Ohio}} {| class="wikitable floatright" ! colspan = 6 | Party affiliation as of May 2024<ref>{{cite web |title=SECRETARY OF STATE PROVIDES UPDATE ON PARTY AFFILIATION DATA |access-date=May 15, 2022 |url=https://www.sciotopost.com/democrats-or-republicans-in-ohio-one-party-has-more-voters/ |archive-date=May 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515072055/https://www.sciotopost.com/democrats-or-republicans-in-ohio-one-party-has-more-voters/ |url-status=live}}</ref> |- ! colspan = 2 | Party ! Registered voters ! Percentage |- | {{party color cell|Independent politician}} | Unaffiliated | align=center | 5,734,850 | align=center | 71.15% |- | {{party color cell|Republican Party (US)}} | Republican | align=center | 1,508,641 | align=center | 18.72% |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (US)}} | Democratic | align=center | 817,063 | align=center | 10.13% |- ! colspan = 2 | Total ! align=center | 8,060,554 ! align=center | 100% |} [[File:Ohio Presidential Election Results 2024.svg|thumb|2024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Ohio {{leftlegend|#4389E3|Democratic}}{{leftlegend|#AA0000|Republican}}]]

Historian R. Douglas Hurt asserts that not since Virginia "had a state made such a mark on national political affairs" as Ohio.<ref>Holli (1999), p. 162.</ref> ''The Economist'' notes that "This slice of the mid-west contains a bit of everything American—part north-eastern and part southern, part urban and part rural, part hardscrabble poverty and part booming suburb".<ref>[http://www.economist.com/World/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5327576 " A grain of sand for your thoughts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060226043446/http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5327576 |date=February 26, 2006 }}, ''The Economist'', December 20, 2005. Retrieved December 23, 2005.</ref>

Ohio is considered a moderately Republican-leaning state politically.<ref name="Fahey-2021" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/once-a-swing-state-ohio-now-seems-to-lean-more-conservative/7565029.html |title=Once a swing state, Ohio now seems to lean more conservative |author=Stearns, Scott |publisher=Voice of America |date=April 10, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mayer |first=Jane |date=2022-08-06 |title=State Legislatures Are Torching Democracy |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/state-legislatures-are-torching-democracy |access-date=2023-12-30 |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=December 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230210851/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/state-legislatures-are-torching-democracy |url-status=live }}</ref> It had been a swing state in the late 20th and early 21st centuries; this status was called into question after the state voted for Republican Donald Trump at larger margins than the nation as a whole in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/ohio-has-taken-different-turn-ohio-no-longer-appears-be-n1247507 'Ohio has taken a different turn' - Why Ohio no longer appears to be a swing state] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724201809/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1247507 |date=July 24, 2022 }}. NBC News, November 12, 2020</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/10/11/why-ohio-is-not-considered-a-swing-state-in-this-years-presidential-election/ |title=Why Ohio is not considered a swing state in this year's presidential election |author=Henry, Megan |publisher=Ohio Capital Journal |date=October 11, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 }}</ref> It is also considered a bellwether state.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/arts/02camp.html Trolling the Campuses for Swing-State Votes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528014334/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/arts/02camp.html |date=May 28, 2015 }}, Julie Salamon, "The New York Times", October 2, 2004</ref><ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/2108640/ Game Theory for Swingers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201225851/http://www.slate.com/id/2108640/ |date=February 1, 2011 }}, Jordan Ellenberg, "Slate.com", October 25, 2004</ref> Since 1896, Ohio has had only three misses in the general election (1944, 1960, 2020) and had the longest perfect streak of any state, voting for the winning presidential candidate in each election from 1964 to 2016 and in 34 of the 39 held since the American Civil War. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.

As of 2024, there are more than 8 million registered Ohioan voters, of which over 70% are not affiliated with any political party. They are disproportionate in age, with a million more over 65 than there are 18- to 24-year-olds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiovoterproject.org/|title=Weekly Voter Statistics For Ohio—May 4, 2019|date=May 5, 2019|website=Ohio Voter Project|language=en-US|access-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506001356/https://ohiovoterproject.org/|archive-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> Since the 2010 midterm elections, Ohio's voter demographic has leaned towards the Republican Party.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2018/11/01/ohio-voters-are-more-likely-to-be-old-white-without-higher-education-and-non-affiliated-with-a-political-party|title=Ohio Voters Are More Likely to be Old, White, Without Higher Education and Non-Affiliated with a Political Party|publisher=Clevescene|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506001358/https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2018/11/01/ohio-voters-are-more-likely-to-be-old-white-without-higher-education-and-non-affiliated-with-a-political-party|archive-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>

The governor, Mike DeWine, is Republican, as are all other non-judicial statewide elected officials. In the Ohio State Senate the Republicans are the majority, 25–8, and in the Ohio House of Representatives the Republicans control the delegation 64–35.

Following the 2020 census, Ohio has 15 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite news| last = Riskind| first = Jonathan| title = Ohio likely to lose 2 seats in Congress in 2012| newspaper = Columbus Dispatch| date = December 24, 2008| url = http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2008/12/24/ohcong.ART_ART_12-24-08_A6_0ACB253.html?sid=101| access-date = March 29, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110510022750/http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2008/12/24/ohcong.ART_ART_12-24-08_A6_0ACB253.html?sid=101| archive-date = May 10, 2011}}</ref> As of the 2024 election cycle, ten federal representatives are Republicans while five are Democrats. Marcy Kaptur (D-09) is the most senior member of the Ohio delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) Urges Homeowners to Stay in Foreclosed Homes| publisher = Democracy Now| date = February 3, 2009| url = http://i1.democracynow.org/2009/2/3/rep_marcy_kaptur_d_oh_urges| access-date = March 29, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090211121058/http://i1.democracynow.org/2009/2/3/rep_marcy_kaptur_d_oh_urges| archive-date = February 11, 2009}}</ref> The senior U.S. senator is Bernie Moreno and the junior is Jon Husted. Both are Republicans.

In 2023, Ohioans approved a constitutional amendment strengthening abortion rights.<ref>{{cite web |last=Walsh |first=Maeve |date=March 13, 2023 |title=Abortion rights amendment certified by Ohio Ballot Board |url=https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/abortion-rights-amendment-certified-by-ohio-ballot-board/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |work=WCMH-TV |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724032659/https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/abortion-rights-amendment-certified-by-ohio-ballot-board/ }}</ref>

==="Mother of presidents"=== Six U.S. presidents hailed from Ohio at the time of their elections, giving rise to its nickname "mother of presidents", a sobriquet it shares with Virginia. It is also termed "modern mother of presidents", in contrast to Virginia's status as the origin of presidents earlier in American history. Virginia-born William Henry Harrison lived much of his life in North Bend, Ohio, was elected from the state and is also buried there. The other five presidents are Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding.<ref name="Ann Heinrichs-2003">{{cite book |author=Ann Heinrichs|title=Ohio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTnyaU2WkmUC&pg=PT43|date=January 1, 2003|publisher=Capstone|isbn=978-0-7565-0316-1|page=42|access-date=June 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906030717/https://books.google.com/books?id=VTnyaU2WkmUC&pg=PT43|archive-date=September 6, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Seven presidents were born in Ohio, making it second to Virginia's eight; in addition to the aforementioned five, Ulysses S. Grant was elected from Illinois and Benjamin Harrison was elected from Indiana.<ref name="Ann Heinrichs-2003" />

===Allegations of voter suppression=== In a 2020 study, Ohio was ranked as the 17th hardest state for citizens to vote in.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=J. Pomante II |first1=Michael |last2=Li |first2=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=December 15, 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Since 1994, the state has had a policy of purging infrequent voters from its rolls. In April 2016, a lawsuit was filed, challenging this policy on the grounds that it violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993<ref name="Jennifer Safstrom-2017" /> and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ford |first1=Matt |website=The Atlantic |date=May 30, 2017 |title=Use It or Lose It? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/supreme-court-ohio-voting/528573/ |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629004540/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/supreme-court-ohio-voting/528573/ |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> In June, the federal district court ruled for the plaintiffs and entered a preliminary injunction applicable only to the November 2016 election. The preliminary injunction was upheld in September by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Had it not been upheld, thousands of voters would have been purged from the rolls just a few weeks before the election.<ref name="Jennifer Safstrom-2017">{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/right-decide-when-vote-husted-v-philip-randolph-institute |website=ACLU |date=September 13, 2017 |title=The Right to Decide When to Vote: Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute |author=Jennifer Safstrom |access-date=May 28, 2021 |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428200540/https://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/right-decide-when-vote-husted-v-philip-randolph-institute |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Glueck |first=Katie |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Vance Elected Senator in Ohio; Once Anti-Trump, He Benefited From His Support |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/08/us/politics/jd-vance-wins-ohio.html |access-date=January 3, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102214209/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/08/us/politics/jd-vance-wins-ohio.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Education== {{main|Education in Ohio}} {{See also|List of colleges and universities in Ohio}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Ohio-Columbus-University-Hall-2017-10-21-001.jpg | caption1 = The Ohio State University in Columbus is Ohio's largest university by enrollment.<ref name="Ohio Department of Higher Education" /> | image2 = Oberlin College - Bosworth Hall.jpg | caption2 = Oberlin College in northeast Ohio was the first college in the US to admit women.<ref name="Margo Okazawa-Rey-1996" /> }}

Ohio's system of public education is outlined in Article VI of the state constitution, and in Title XXXIII of the Ohio Revised Code. Substantively, Ohio's system is similar to those found in other states. At the State level, the Ohio Department of Education governs primary and secondary educational institutions. At the municipal level, there are approximately 700 school districts statewide. The Ohio Board of Regents coordinates and assists with Ohio's institutions of higher education.

Ohio is home to several public and private institutions of higher learning. Prior to statehood, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 included a provision to establish an institution of higher education in the region, resulting in the establishment of Ohio University in 1804 as Ohio's first college.<ref>See College Lands: Ohio University Chartered, and Land Ordinance of 1785, and {{cite book |title = A compilation of laws, treaties, resolutions, and ordinances: of the general and state governments, which relate to lands in the state of Ohio; including the laws adopted by the governor and judges; the laws of the territorial legislature; and the laws of this state, to the years 1815–16 | publisher = G. Nashee, State Printer | year = 1825 |url = https://archive.org/details/acompilationlaw00swangoog|page = [https://archive.org/details/acompilationlaw00swangoog/page/n24 17] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Ohio Lands: A Short History |url = http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maggie/ohio-lands/ohl5.html |access-date = March 27, 2011 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520040556/http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maggie/ohio-lands/ohl5.html |archive-date = May 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Historical Collections of Ohio ... an Encyclopedia of the State | edition = The Ohio Centennial|volume = 1| editor = Henry Howe |publisher = The State of Ohio |year = 1907 |chapter = The Public Lands of Ohio | author = John Kilbourne |page=226}} [https://archive.org/details/acompilationlaw00swangoog/page/n235  ''Act of February 18, 1804, v. 2, L. O. p. 193, An act establishing a University in the town of Athens''].</ref> The University System of Ohio includes all of Ohio's public institutions of higher education. It includes 14 four-year research universities, 24 branch and regional campuses, and 23 community colleges and technical colleges. Ohio State University is the largest of the system, with over 60,000 students at its main campus in Columbus.<ref name="Ohio Department of Higher Education">As of fall 2021. {{cite web | title=Preliminary Headcount, Fall Term 2021 | url=https://www.ohiohighered.org/sites/default/files/uploads/hei/data-updates/final_ph_rpt_2021.xlsx | publisher=Ohio Department of Higher Education | access-date=February 20, 2022}}</ref>

Kenyon College is the state's oldest private liberal arts college, established in 1824 by an Episcopal bishop to train clergy on the Ohio frontier. Oberlin College, established in 1833, was among the earliest colleges in the US to admit African Americans in 1835, and became the first to admit women in 1837.<ref name="Margo Okazawa-Rey-1996">{{cite book |author1=Faustine Childress Jones-Wilson |author2=Charles A. Asbury |author3=D. Kamili Anderson |author4=Sylvia M. Jacobs |author5=Margo Okazawa-Rey |title=Encyclopedia of African-American Education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ni2qhq1n1d4C&pg=PA339 |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-28931-6 |pages=339– |access-date=May 3, 2018 |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191217022314/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ni2qhq1n1d4C&pg=PA339 |url-status= live}}</ref>

The Carnegie Foundation classifies seven of the state's institutions as tier 1 research universities: Case Western Reserve University, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, Kent State University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, and University of Toledo.<ref>{{cite web |title=Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity |url=http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2215%22%7D |publisher=Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education |access-date=November 14, 2024 }}</ref>

===Libraries=== Ohio is home to some of the nation's highest-ranked public libraries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haplr-index.com/HAPLR08_CorrectedVersionOctober8_2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028194258/http://www.haplr-index.com/HAPLR08_CorrectedVersionOctober8_2008.pdf |title=Thomas J. Hennen's American Public Library Ratings for 2006 |archive-date=October 28, 2008}}</ref> Major metropolitan public library systems include the Cleveland Public Library, the Cuyahoga County Public Library, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and the Columbus Metropolitan Library. The Ohio Public Library Information Network provides Ohio residents with internet access to their 251 public libraries. It also provides Ohioans with free home access to high-quality, subscription research databases.

The OhioLINK library consortium provides Ohio's college and university libraries with mutual access to their collections. The program allows researchers access to books and other media that might not be otherwise available. CLEVNET, another major library consortium, is based at the Cleveland Public Library and includes 47 public library systems in Northeast Ohio.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is CLEVNET? |publisher=CLEVNET |url=https://www.clevnet.org/what-is-clevnet/ |date=March 28, 2023 |access-date=July 31, 2023 }}</ref>

==Transportation== {{multiple image | direction = vertical | total_width = 230 | image1 = Ohio welcome sign (2019).jpg | caption1 = Ohio welcome sign along Interstate 74 in 2019 | image2 = Bergstresser Covered Bridge.jpg | caption2 = Covered bridges, like the Bergstresser/Dietz Covered Bridge, are common throughout rural Ohio. }}

===Roads=== {{See also|List of Interstate Highways in Ohio|List of U.S. Routes in Ohio|List of state routes in Ohio}} Many major east–west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 20th century as "Main Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historic Lincoln Highway which was the first road across America, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Wooster, Lima, and Van Wert. The Lincoln Highway's arrival in Ohio was a major influence on the state's development. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1926, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Route 30.

Ohio is home to {{convert|228|mi|km|0}} of the National Road, now U.S. Route 40.

Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (State Route 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati. Major north–south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland through Akron, Canton, New Philadelphia and Marietta south into West Virginia. Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Dayton is one of Ohio's most heavily traveled sections of interstate.

===Trails=== Ohio has a highly developed network of signed state bicycle routes. Many of them follow rail trails, with conversion ongoing. The Ohio to Erie Trail (route 1) connects Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. U.S. Bicycle Route 50 traverses Ohio from Steubenville to the Indiana state line outside Richmond.<ref>{{AASHTO minutes |year = 2014S |access-date = June 1, 2014}}</ref>

Ohio has several long-distance hiking trails, the most prominent of which is the Buckeye Trail, which extends {{convert|1444|mi|adj=on|abbr=on}} in a loop around the state. Part of it is on roads and part on wooded trail. Additionally, the North Country Trail (the longest of the 11 National Scenic Trails authorized by Congress) and the American Discovery Trail (a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast route across the mid-tier of the United States) pass through Ohio. Much of these two trails coincide with the Buckeye Trail.

===Rail=== {{Ohio rail network}} {{See also|List of Ohio railroads|List of Ohio train stations}} Ohio has an extensive rail network, though today most lines carry only freight traffic. Three Class I freight railroads operate in Ohio: CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Canadian National Railway. Many local freight carriers also exist in the state.

Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, operates three long-distance rail routes through Ohio. The ''Lake Shore Limited'' serves {{amtk|Cleveland}}, {{amtk|Elyria}}, {{amtk|Toledo}}, {{amtk|Sandusky}}, and {{amtk|Bryan}}. The ''Capitol Limited'' stops in those cities as well as in {{amtk|Alliance}}. The ''Cardinal'' serves Cincinnati Union Terminal. From Ohio, passengers can ride directly to {{amtk|Chicago}}, {{amtk|New York}}, Boston, {{amtk|Washington, D.C.}}, {{amtk|Indianapolis}}, {{amtk|Pittsburgh}}, {{amtk|Buffalo}}, and dozens of destinations in-between.

Columbus is the largest city in the U.S. with no passenger rail. Its Union Station was last served in 1979 by the ''National Limited.''

Ohio is home to several scenic railways and museums, including the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad through Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Age of Steam Roundhouse museum, and the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway near Hocking Hills State Park.

===Transit=== [[File:Cincinnati-bell-connector station-1-the-banks 09-11-2016.jpg|thumb|Cincinnati Connector streetcar]] Mass transit exists in many forms in Ohio cities, primarily through bus systems. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) operates the RTA Rapid Transit system, which consists of one heavy rail line, three light rail lines, and three bus rapid transit lines. Cincinnati is served by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) bus network as well as a {{convert|3.6|mi|adj=on}} streetcar line, the Cincinnati Bell Connector. Other major transit agencies in Ohio include the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) serving Columbus and the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (GDRTA) serving Dayton.

===Air travel=== {{See also|List of airports in Ohio}} Ohio has four international airports, four commercial, and two military. The four international include Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, John Glenn Columbus International Airport, Dayton International Airport, and Rickenbacker International Airport (one of two military airfields). The other military airfield is Wright Patterson Air Force Base which is one of the largest Air Force bases in the United States. Other major airports are in Toledo and Akron. Cincinnati's main airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, is in Hebron, Kentucky, and therefore is not included in Ohio airport lists.

===Waterways=== {{main|Lake Erie|List of rivers of Ohio|Historic Ohio Canals}}

==See also== {{portal|Ohio|United States}} * Index of Ohio-related articles * Outline of Ohio {{clear}}

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== Bibliography == * ''Profiles of Ohio: history, statistics, demographics for all 1,339 populated places in Ohio, with detailed state and government histories, plus comparative statistics & rankings.'' (6th ed. Grey House Publishing, 2021). 828pp {{ISBN|1-64265-827-8}}; covers 88 counties, 248 cities and 689 villages. * Cayton, Andrew R. L. (2002). ''Ohio: The History of a People''. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press. {{ISBN|0-8142-0899-1}} * Kern, Kevin F., and Gregory S. Wilson. (2013) ''Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), 544pp * Knepper, George W. (1989). ''Ohio and Its People''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-87338-791-0}} * Holli, Melvin G. (1999). ''The American Mayor''. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. {{ISBN|0-271-01876-3}} * Roseboom, Eugene H.; Weisenburger, Francis P. (1967). ''A History of Ohio''. Columbus: The Ohio Historical Society. * {{cite book |title=Ohio Legal Research Guide |first1=Melanie K |last1= Putnam |first2=Susan M |last2= Schaefgen |date=1997 |isbn=978-1-57588-087-7 |publisher=William S Hein & Co }} * Schmidlin, Thomas; Schmidlin, Jeanne Appelhans (1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=QANPLARGXFMC ''Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405043025/https://books.google.com/books?id=QANPLARGXFMC |date=April 5, 2023 }}. The Kent State university Press. Kent, Ohio. {{isbn|978-0-87338-549-7}}.

== External links == {{Sister project links|voy=Ohio}} * [https://www.ohio.gov/ State of Ohio official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503125351/https://ohio.gov/ |date=May 3, 2024 }} * [http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=39&StateName=Ohio#.U85uE_ldVu0 Ohio State Facts from USDA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824213016/http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/state-data.aspx?StateFIPS=39&StateName=Ohio#.U85uE_ldVu0 |date=August 24, 2016 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130303055638/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39000.html U.S. Census Bureau (Ohio Quick Facts)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060922195548/http://www.usgs.gov/state/state.asp?State=OH USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Ohio] * {{OSM relation|162061}}

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Category:Ohio Category:States of the United States Category:Midwestern United States Category:States and territories established in 1803 Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas Category:Former French colonies Category:1803 establishments in the United States Category:Contiguous United States