Created on Thursday, 14 March 2013 Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI (AP) — Less than a quarter of Ohio's 88 counties have had population increases since the 2010 census, and some of those that have seen increases have been helped by immigrants and births exceeding deaths, according to new U.S. Census estimates.
Demographic and economic analysts say the new estimates indicate that a longtime trend of migration from the nation's Midwest and Northeast to the South and West doesn't appear to be changing, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
However, census estimates show Warren, Butler and Clermont counties in southwest Ohio are among 19 Ohio counties that have had population increases since the 2010 Census.
"If you look around the country at the markets that have been and still are growing rapidly, almost all of them are magnets for international immigration," said Janet Harrah, senior director of the Center for Economic Analysis and Development at Northern Kentucky University.
The statewide Ohio estimates show 56 percent of the people from other countries who came to Ohio between 2010 and 2012 live in southwest Ohio's Hamilton County, Cuyahoga County in northeast Ohio and Franklin County in central Ohio.
Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, saw nearly 11,000 people leave for other U.S. locations since 2010. But with births exceeding deaths by about 7,200 and more than 3,400 immigrants, the county's population remained flat at about 802,000.
Harrah said jobs and education draw many immigrants to the Cincinnati area.
Gary Wright, demographer and founder of Wright Futures in Cincinnati, said Hamilton County still gets most immigrants in the area and if immigration drops below current levels, "the population of Hamilton County and the region is likely to decrease."
The influx of people from other countries also helped Butler County's population numbers the newspaper reported. The county north of Cincinnati had a population increase even though more people left the county than moved into it. Butler's population grew 0.7 percent, according to the estimates.
Immigrants and their American-born children account for most of the population growth in the U.S. today, according to Wright and U.S. population projections provided by the Pew Research Center. And immigrants likely will account for more than 80 percent of U.S. population growth through 2050, according to the projections.