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Population and Housing Profile:  Lucas County, Ohio

See footnotes below.

POPULATION OF Lucas County: In 2003, Lucas County had a household population of 444,000 - 230,000 (52 percent) females and 214,000 (48 percent) males. The median age was 35.4 years. Twenty-six percent of the population were under 18 years and 12 percent were 65 years and older.

Graph of The Age Distribution of People 

For people reporting one race, 79 percent were White alone; 18 percent were Black or African American; less than 0.5 percent were American Indian and Alaska Native; 2 percent were Asian; less than 0.5 percent were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 1 percent were Some other race. Three percent reported Two or more races. Five percent of the people in Lucas County were Hispanic. Seventy-five percent of the people in Lucas County were White non-Hispanic. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES: In 2003 there were 181,000 households in Lucas County. The average household size was 2.45 people.

Families made up 62 percent of the households in Lucas County that year. This figure includes both married-couple families (43 percent) and other families (19 percent). Nonfamily households made up 38 percent of all households in Lucas County. Most of the nonfamily households were people living alone, but some were comprised of people living in households in which no one was related to the householder.

Graph of The Types of Households

NATIVITY AND LANGUAGE: Three percent of the people living in Lucas County in 2003 were foreign born. Ninety-seven percent were native, including 79 percent who were born in Ohio.

Among people at least five years old living in Lucas County in 2003, 5 percent spoke a language other than English at home. Of those speaking a language other than English at home, 30 percent spoke Spanish and 70 percent spoke some other language; 29 percent reported that they did not speak English "very well."

GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY: In 2003, 80 percent of the people at least one year old living in Lucas County were living in the same residence one year earlier; 16 percent had moved during the past year from another residence in the same county, 1 percent from another county in the same state, 2 percent from another state, and less than 0.5 percent from abroad.

 Graph of The Geographic Mobility of Residents

EDUCATION: In 2003, 86 percent of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 24 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. Among people 16 to 19 years old, 12 percent were dropouts; they were not enrolled in school and had not graduated from high school.

The total school enrollment in Lucas County was 127,000 in 2003. Preprimary school enrollment was 17,000 and elementary or high school enrollment was 78,000 children. College enrollment was 32,000.

Graph of The Educational Attainment

DISABILITY: In Lucas County, among people at least five years old in 2003, 19 percent reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 13 percent of people 5 to 20 years old, to 16 percent of people 21 to 64 years old, and to 45 percent of those 65 and older.

INDUSTRIES: In 2003, for the employed population 16 years and older, the leading industries in Lucas County were Educational, health, and social services, 25 percent, and Manufacturing, 15 percent.

 Graph of Employment by Industry

OCCUPATIONS AND TYPE OF EMPLOYER: Among the most common occupations were: Management, professional, and related occupations, 31 percent; Sales and office occupations, 27 percent; Production, transportation, and material moving occupations, 18 percent; Service occupations, 18 percent; and Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations, 6 percent. Eighty-two percent of the people employed were Private wage and salary workers; 14 percent were Federal, state, or local government workers; and 4 percent were Self-employed.

TRAVEL TO WORK: Eighty-five percent of Lucas County workers drove to work alone in 2003, 7 percent carpooled, 2 percent took public transportation, and 3 percent used other means. The remaining 2 percent worked at home. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 21 minutes to get to work.

INCOME: The median income of households in Lucas County was $36,804. Seventy-seven percent of the households received earnings and 20 percent received retirement income other than Social Security. Twenty-eight percent of the households received Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $12,179. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

POVERTY AND PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS: In 2003, 15 percent of people were in poverty. Twenty-six percent of related children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 9 percent of people 65 years old and over. Thirteen percent of all families and 40 percent of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level.  

Graph of the Poverty Rates

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS: In 2003, Lucas County had a total of 200,000 housing units, 9.3 percent of which were vacant. Of the total housing units, 68 percent were in single-unit structures, 28 percent were in multi-unit structures, and 4 percent were mobile homes. Ten percent of the housing units were built since 1990.

Graph of The Types of Housing Units 

OCCUPIED HOUSING UNIT CHARACTERISTICS: In 2003, Lucas County had 181,000 occupied housing units - 120,000 (66 percent) owner occupied and 61,000 (34 percent) renter occupied. Three percent of the households did not have telephone service and 10 percent of the households did not have access to a car, truck, or van for private use. Multi-vehicle households were not rare. Thirty-four percent had two vehicles and another 17 percent had three or more.

HOUSING COSTS: The median monthly housing costs for (specified) mortgaged owners was $977, (specified) nonmortgaged owners $370, and (specified) renters $528. Thirty percent of owners with mortgages, 15 percent of owners without mortgages, and 49 percent of renters in Lucas County spent 30 percent or more of household income on housing.

 Graph of The Occupants with a Housing Cost Burden

NOTES: The population estimates in this profile are limited to the household population and exclude the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters.  

In the narrative profile below, if one sample estimate is larger than another, it does not necessarily mean that the same holds for their true values for the entire population. These estimates are derived from a sample of housing units and measure the true values with a degree of uncertainty. In the tabular profiles this uncertainty is represented by the 90 percent confidence interval given for each estimate. For further information on confidence intervals see the Accuracy of the Data document.

Caution should be used when comparing data by race for years before 1999 with those for 2000 and beyond due to the Census Bureau's implementation of the October 1997 revised standards for data on race and ethnicity. These data allow respondents to report one or more races and there are seven (American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White, Some other race, and Two or more races) instead of five racial tabulation categories. The Two or more races category includes all respondents who reported more than one race. See the methodology section for more details regarding these changes.

In addition, caution should be used when comparing population numbers by age, race, and sex for 2000 with all earlier years. The numbers for 2000 have been weighted to be generally consistent with Census 2000 counts.

Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Percentages are based on unrounded numbers

For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, go to the American Community Survey web site www.census.gov/acs/www/ and click on Advanced Methodology.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau  |  American Community Survey Office  |  Page Last Modified: August 24, 2007