| County: | Lorain County |
| State: | Ohio |
| Flag: | Lorain County, Ohio Flag.gif |
| Seal: | Seal of Lorain County Ohio.svg |
| Founded Date: | April 1 |
| Founded Year: | 1824 |
| Seat Wl: | Elyria |
| Largest City Wl: | Lorain |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 923 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 491 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 432 |
| Area Percentage: | 47% |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 312964 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Est: | 317910 |
| Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Web: | www.loraincounty.us |
| Named For: | Lorraine in France[1] |
| Ex Image: | Elyria-ohio-old-county-building.jpg |
| Ex Image Cap: | Old county building in Elyria |
| District: | 5th |
Lorain County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,964.[2] Its county seat is Elyria, and its largest city is Lorain.[3] The county was physically established in 1822, becoming judicially independent in 1824.[4] Lorain County is part of the Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is home to Oberlin College.
Lorain County was established in 1822 from portions of several of its adjacent counties.[5] This county became judicially-independent in 1824. The original proposed name for the county was "Colerain".[6] The final name "Lorain" was chosen by Heman Ely, who had founded and named the city of Elyria. The county's name is based on the former German and now French province of Lorraine.[7]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and (47%) is water.[8] It is Ohio's fourth-largest county by area.
As of the 2010 census, there were 301,356 people, 116,274 households, and 80,077 families residing in the county.[9] The population density was . There were 127,036 housing units at an average density of .[10] The racial makeup of the county was 84.8% white, 8.6% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 2.5% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.4% of the population.[9] In terms of ancestry, 26.5% were German, 16.7% were Irish, 10.9% were English, 8.4% were Polish, 8.2% were Italian, 6.2% were American, and 5.2% were Hungarian.[11]
Of the 116,274 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.1% were non-families, and 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age was 40.0 years.[9]
The median income for a household in the county was $52,066 and the median income for a family was $62,082. Males had a median income of $49,146 versus $35,334 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,002. About 10.3% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.[12]
There are 20 public school districts in Lorain County. Those primarily in Lorain County are listed in bold. Each district's high school(s) and location is also listed.
The county also includes the Lorain County Joint Vocational School District, which encompasses the entire county and serves students from the Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Clearview, Columbia, Elyria, Firelands, Keystone, Midview, North Ridgeville, Oberlin, Sheffield-Sheffield Lake and Wellington school districts from a 10-acre campus on a 100-acre site near the intersection of State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20 in Oberlin.[13]
As of 2024, the following county-wide elected officials are in office:[14]
| Position | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioner | David Moore | Republican | |
| Commissioner | Michelle Hung | Republican | |
| Commissioner | Jeff Riddell | Republican | |
| Auditor | Craig Snodgrass | Democrat | |
| Prosecuting Attorney | JD Tomlinson | Democrat | |
| Clerk of Courts | Tom Orlando | Democrat | |
| Sheriff | Phil Stammitti | Democrat | |
| Recorder | Mike Doran | Republican | |
| Treasurer | Daniel Talarek | Democrat | |
| Engineer | Kenneth Carney | Democrat | |
| Coroner | Dr. Frank Miller | Republican |
| Position | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Pleas - General | John Miraldi | Democrat | |
| Common Pleas - General | Christopher Rothgery | Democrat | |
| Common Pleas - General | Chris Cook | Democrat | |
| Common Pleas - General | Raymond Ewers | Democrat | |
| Common Pleas - General | Melissa Kobasher | Democrat | |
| Common Pleas - General | James Miraldi | Democrat | |
| Domestic Relations Division | Frank Janik | Democrat | |
| Domestic Relations Division | Sherry Glass Strohsack | Democrat | |
| Domestic Relations Division | Lisa Swenski | Democrat | |
| Probate Division | James Walther | Democrat |
Lorain County used to lean Democratic in recent presidential elections, voting for the Democratic candidate for president in 12 of the last 16 elections, including a winning streak that lasted from 1988 to 2016. In 2016, however, the county was almost swept up as part of the unexpected Republican surge in the Rust Belt; Donald Trump came within 131 votes of being the first Republican to capture the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984. In 2020, Trump flipped the county Republican by a narrow majority. In 2024, Trump won the county with 52.12% of the vote, the highest percentage for a Republican since 1972.|}