List of counties in Ohio
The U.S. state of Ohio comprises 88 counties. Nine of them existed at the time of the Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1802. A tenth county, Wayne, was established on August 15, 1796, and encompassed roughly the present state of Michigan. During the Convention, the county was opposed to statehood, and was not only left out of the Convention, but dissolved; the current Wayne County is in northeastern Ohio, considerably distant from the area that was the original Wayne County.
The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities and villages do, but only Summit and Cuyahoga counties have done so, the latter having been approved by voters in November 2009. Counties do not possess home rule powers and can do only what has been expressly authorized by the Ohio General Assembly. Ohio law defines a structure for county government, although each county may choose to define its own. Summit County and Cuyahoga County have chosen an alternate structure, while all of the other counties use the default structure. The elected county officials include three commissioners, a sheriff (the highest law enforcement officer in the county); prosecutor (equivalent of a district attorney in other states); coroner, engineer, auditor, treasurer and clerk of courts.
Population figures are based on the 2010 United States Census. The population of Ohio was 11,536,504 at that time, an increase of 1.6% from 2000. The average population of Ohio's counties was 131,096; Cuyahoga County was the most populous (1,280,122) and Vinton County was the least (13,435). The average land area is 464 sq mi (1,200 km2). The largest county by area is Ashtabula County at 702.44 sq mi (1,819.3 km2) and the smallest is Lake County at 228.21 sq mi (591.1 km2). The total area of the state is 40,860.69 sq mi (105,828.7 km2).
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) is used by the U.S. government to uniquely identify counties, and is provided for each entry. These codes link to the United States Census Bureau's "quick facts" for each county. Ohio's FIPS code of 39 is used to distinguish from counties in other states. For example, Adams County's unique nationwide identifier is 39001. However, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Department of Transportation instead identify counties by consecutive numbers and three-letter abbreviations, respectively.
List of counties
||FIPS code||County Seat||Est.||Origin||Etymology||Population||Area||Map|
|Adams County||001||West Union||Jul 10, 1797||Hamilton County||John Adams (1735–1826), President of the United States when the county was organized||28,550||583.91 sq mi|
|Allen County||003||Lima||Mar 1, 1820||Shelby County||John Allen (1771/2-1813), a War of 1812 colonel||106,331||404.43 sq mi|
|Ashland County||005||Ashland||Feb 24, 1846||Wayne, Richland, Huron, and Lorain Counties||Ashland, home of U.S. Senator from Kentucky Henry Clay.||53,139||424.37 sq mi|
|Ashtabula County||007||Jefferson||Jun 7, 1807||Trumbull and Geauga Counties||Ashtabula River, which means "fish river" in an Algonquian language||101,497||702.44 sq mi|
|Athens County||009||Athens||Mar 1, 1805||Washington County||Athens in Greece||64,757||506.76 sq mi|
|Auglaize County||011||Wapakoneta||Feb 14, 1848||Allen, Mercer, Darke, Hardin, Logan, Shelby, and Van Wert Counties||Auglaize River, which means "fallen timbers river" in the Shawnee Indian language||45,949||401.25 sq mi|
|Belmont County||013||St. Clairsville||Sep 7, 1801||Jefferson and Washington Counties||Belle monte, which means "beautiful mountain" in French||70,400||537.35 sq mi|
|Brown County||015||Georgetown||Mar 1, 1818||Adams and Clermont Counties||General Jacob Brown (1775–1828), an officer of the War of 1812||44,846||491.76 sq mi|
|Butler County||017||Hamilton||May 1, 1803||Hamilton County||General Richard Butler (1743–1791), killed at the Battle of the Wabash||368,130||467.27 sq mi|
|Carroll County||019||Carrollton||Jan 1, 1833||Columbiana, Stark, Harrison, Jefferson, and Tuscarawas Counties||Charles Carroll (1737–1832), last surviving signer of the United States Declaration of Independence||28,836||394.67 sq mi|
|Champaign County||021||Urbana||Mar 1, 1805||Greene and Franklin Counties||French for "a plain", describing the land in the area||40,097||428.56 sq mi|
|Clark County||023||Springfield||Mar 1, 1818||Champaign, Madison, and Greene Counties||General George Rogers Clark (1752–1818), defeated the Shawnee Indians in a battle near the Springfield area||138,333||399.86 sq mi|
|Clermont County||025||Batavia||Dec 6, 1800||Hamilton County||French for "clear mountain"||197,363||451.99 sq mi|
|Clinton County||027||Wilmington||Mar 1, 1810||Highland and Warren Counties||George Clinton (1739–1812), vice-president when the county was organized||42,040||410.88 sq mi|
|Columbiana County||029||Lisbon||May 1, 1803||Jefferson and Washington Counties||Derived from the words Christopher Columbus, European explorer of the Americas||107,841||532.46 sq mi|
|Coshocton County||031||Coshocton||Jan 31, 1810||Muskingum and Tuscarawas Counties||Delaware Indian word meaning "union of waters"||36,901||564.07 sq mi|
|Crawford County||033||Bucyrus||Apr 1, 1820||Delaware County||Colonel William Crawford (1732–1782), Revolutionary War officer||43,784||402.11 sq mi|
|Cuyahoga County||035||Cleveland||Jun 7, 1807||Geauga County||Cuyahoga River, which means "crooked river" in an Iroquoian language||1,249,352||458.49 sq mi|
|Darke County||037||Greenville||Jan 3, 1809||Miami County||General William Darke (1736–1801), Revolutionary War officer||52,959||599.80 sq mi|
|Defiance County||039||Defiance||Apr 7, 1845||Williams, Henry, and Paulding Counties||Fort Defiance, built in 1794 by General Anthony Wayne||39,037||411.16 sq mi|
|Delaware County||041||Delaware||Apr 1, 1808||Franklin County||Delaware Indians||174,214||442.41 sq mi|
|Erie County||043||Sandusky||Mar 15, 1838||Huron and Sandusky Counties||Erie Indians||77,079||254.88 sq mi|
|Fairfield County||045||Lancaster||Dec 9, 1800||Ross and Washington Counties||Named for the beauty of its "fair fields"||146,156||505.11 sq mi|
|Fayette County||047||Washington Court House||Mar 1, 1810||Ross and Highland Counties||Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, French military officer and aristocrat who participated in both the American and French revolutions.||29,030||406.58 sq mi|
|Franklin County||049||Columbus||Apr 30, 1803||Ross and Wayne Counties||Benjamin Franklin (1706–1791), Founding Father, author, printer, political theorist, scientist, inventor, and statesman||1,264,518||539.87 sq mi|
|Fulton County||051||Wauseon||Apr 1, 1850||Lucas, Henry, and Williams Counties||Robert Fulton (1765–1815), inventor of the steamboat||42,698||406.78 sq mi|
|Gallia County||053||Gallipolis||Apr 30, 1803||Washington and Adams Counties||Gaul, the ancient name of France||30,934||468.78 sq mi|
|Geauga County||055||Chardon||Mar 1, 1806||Trumbull County||An Indian word meaning "raccoon"||93,389||403.66 sq mi|
|Greene County||057||Xenia||May 1, 1803||Hamilton and Ross Counties||General Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), Revolutionary War officer||161,573||414.88 sq mi|
|Guernsey County||059||Cambridge||Mar 1, 1810||Belmont and Muskingum Counties||Island of Guernsey, from where most of the settlers originated||40,087||521.90 sq mi|
|Hamilton County||061||Cincinnati||Jan 2, 1790||One of the original counties||Alexander Hamilton (1755/7-1804), Secretary of the Treasury when the county was organized||802,374||407.36 sq mi|
|Hancock County||063||Findlay||Apr 1, 1820||Logan County||John Hancock (1737–1793), president of the Continental Congress||74,782||531.35 sq mi|
|Hardin County||065||Kenton||Apr 1, 1820||Logan County||General John Hardin (1753–1792), Revolutionary War officer||32,058||470.29 sq mi|
|Harrison County||067||Cadiz||Feb 1, 1813||Jefferson and Tuscarawas Counties||General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), an officer of the War of 1812 and future President of the United States||15,864||403.53 sq mi|
|Henry County||069||Napoleon||Apr 1, 1820||Shelby County||Patrick Henry (1736–1799), Revolutionary War-era legislator, orator, and scholar||28,215||416.50 sq mi|
|Highland County||071||Hillsboro||May 1, 1805||Ross, Adams, and Clermont Counties||Descriptive of the county's terrain||43,589||553.28 sq mi|
|Hocking County||073||Logan||Mar 1, 1818||Athens, Ross, and Fairfield Counties||Possibly derived from the Delaware Indian word "Hoch-Hoch-ing", meaning "bottle"||29,380||422.75 sq mi|
|Holmes County||075||Millersburg||Jan 20, 1824||Coshocton, Wayne, and Tuscarawas Counties||Major Andrew Holmes (died 1814), a War of 1812 officer||42,366||422.99 sq mi|
|Huron County||077||Norwalk||Mar 7, 1809||Portage and Cuyahoga Counties||Huron Indians||59,626||492.69 sq mi|
|Jackson County||079||Jackson||Mar 1, 1816||Scioto, Gallia, Athens, and Ross Counties||General Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), future President of the United States||33,225||420.28 sq mi|
|Jefferson County||081||Steubenville||Jul 29, 1797||Washington County||Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Vice President when the county was organized, future President of the United States, and principal author of the Declaration of Independence||69,709||409.61 sq mi|
|Knox County||083||Mount Vernon||Mar 1, 1808||Fairfield County||General Henry Knox, the first Secretary of War||60,921||527.12 sq mi|
|Lake County||085||Painesville||Mar 6, 1840||Geauga and Cuyahoga Counties||Its location on Lake Erie||230,041||228.21 sq mi|
|Lawrence County||087||Ironton||Dec 21, 1815||Gallia and Scioto Counties||Captain James Lawrence (1781–1813), naval hero in the War of 1812||62,450||454.96 sq mi|
|Licking County||089||Newark||Mar 1, 1808||Fairfield County||Named for the salt licks in the area||166,492||686.50 sq mi|
|Logan County||091||Bellefontaine||Mar 1, 1818||Champaign County||General Benjamin Logan (c. 1742 – 1802), who destroyed Shawnee Indian towns in the county||45,858||458.44 sq mi|
|Lorain County||093||Elyria||Dec 26, 1822||Huron, Cuyahoga, and Medina Counties||Province of Lorraine, France||301,356||492.50 sq mi|
|Lucas County||095||Toledo||Jun 20, 1835||Wood, Sandusky, and Huron Counties||Robert Lucas (1781–1853), Governor of Ohio when the county was created||441,815||340.46 sq mi|
|Madison County||097||London||Mar 1, 1810||Franklin County||James Madison (1751–1836), fourth President of the United States||43,435||465.44 sq mi|
|Mahoning County||099||Youngstown||Mar 1, 1846||Columbiana and Trumbull Counties||Mahoning River, from an Indian word meaning "at the licks"||238,823||415.25 sq mi|
|Marion County||101||Marion||Apr 1, 1820||Delaware County||General Francis Marion (1732–1795), lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and later brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War.||66,501||403.84 sq mi|
|Medina County||103||Medina||Feb 18, 1812||Portage County||Medina, world-renowned religious site in western Saudi Arabia||176,395||423 sq mi|
|Meigs County||105||Pomeroy||Apr 1, 1819||Gallia and Athens Counties||Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (1764–1825), Governor of Ohio and Postmaster General at the time the county was organized||23,770||429.42 sq mi|
|Mercer County||107||Celina||Apr 1, 1820||Darke County||General Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), a Revolutionary War officer||40,814||463.27 sq mi|
|Miami County||109||Troy||Mar 1, 1807||Montgomery County||Miami Indians||102,506||407.04 sq mi|
|Monroe County||111||Woodsfield||Jan 29, 1813||Belmont, Washington, and Guernsey Counties||James Monroe (1758–1831), Secretary of State when the county was organized and future President of the United States||14,642||455.54 sq mi|
|Montgomery County||113||Dayton||May 1, 1803||Hamilton and Wayne Counties||General Richard Montgomery (1738–1775), a Revolutionary War officer||535,153||461.68 sq mi|
|Morgan County||115||McConnelsville||Dec 29, 1817||Washington, Guernsey, and Muskingum Counties||General Daniel Morgan (c. 1735 – 1802), a Revolutionary War officer||15,054||417.66 sq mi|
|Morrow County||117||Mount Gilead||Mar 1, 1848||Knox, Marion, Delaware, and Richland Counties||Jeremiah Morrow (1771–1852), Governor of Ohio||34,827||406.22 sq mi|
|Muskingum County||119||Zanesville||Mar 1, 1804||Washington and Fairfield Counties||An Indian word meaning "A town by the river" or "by the river side"||86,074||664.63 sq mi|
|Noble County||121||Caldwell||Apr 1, 1851||Monroe, Washington, Morgan, and Guernsey Counties||James Noble (1785–1831), an early settler and future U.S. Senator from Indiana||14,645||399.00 sq mi|
|Ottawa County||123||Port Clinton||Mar 6, 1840||Erie, Sandusky, and Lucas Counties||Named for the Ottawa Indians; Ottawa means "trader" in their language||41,428||254.95 sq mi|
|Paulding County||125||Paulding||Apr 1, 1820||Darke County||John Paulding (1758–1818), captor of spy John André during the Revolutionary War||19,614||416.26 sq mi|
|Perry County||127||New Lexington||Mar 1, 1818||Washington, Fairfield, and Muskingum Counties||Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819), a naval officer of the War of 1812||36,058||409.78 sq mi|
|Pickaway County||129||Circleville||Mar 1, 1810||Ross, Fairfield, and Franklin Counties||A misspelling of the Piqua tribe, a branch of the Shawnee||55,698||501.91 sq mi|
|Pike County||131||Waverly||Feb 1, 1815||Ross, Scioto, and Adams Counties||General Zebulon M. Pike (1779–1813), a War of 1812 officer and discoverer of Pikes Peak in Colorado in 1806||28,709||441.49 sq mi|
|Portage County||133||Ravenna||Jun 7, 1807||Trumbull County||Derived from an Indian portage||161,419||492.39 sq mi|
|Preble County||135||Eaton||Mar 1, 1808||Montgomery and Butler Counties||Captain Edward Preble (1761–1807), a Naval commander in the Revolutionary War||42,270||424.80 sq mi|
|Putnam County||137||Ottawa||Apr 1, 1820||Shelby County||General Israel Putnam (1718–1790), a Revolutionary War officer||34,499||483.87 sq mi|
|Richland County||139||Mansfield||Mar 1, 1808||Fairfield County||Descriptive of the soil in the area||124,475||496.88 sq mi|
|Ross County||141||Chillicothe||Aug 20, 1798||Adams and Washington Counties||Named for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania James Ross by territorial governor Arthur St. Clair||78,064||688.41 sq mi|
|Sandusky County||143||Fremont||Apr 1, 1820||Huron County||An Iroquois word meaning "cold water"||60,944||409.18 sq mi|
|Scioto County||145||Portsmouth||May 1, 1803||Adams County||Scioto River; Scioto is a Wyandot Indian word meaning "deer"||79,499||612.27 sq mi|
|Seneca County||147||Tiffin||Apr 1, 1820||Huron County||Seneca Indians, who had a reservation in the county area at the time||56,745||550.59 sq mi|
|Shelby County||149||Sidney||Apr 1, 1819||Miami County||General Isaac Shelby (1750–1826), a Revolutionary War officer and Governor of Kentucky,||49,423||409.27 sq mi|
|Stark County||151||Canton||Feb 13, 1808||Columbiana County||General John Stark (1728–1822), a Revolutionary War officer; known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777||375,586||576.14 sq mi|
|Summit County||153||Akron||Mar 3, 1840||Medina, Portage, and Stark Counties||Its location at the highest elevation along the Ohio and Erie Canal||541,781||419.38 sq mi|
|Trumbull County||155||Warren||Jul 10, 1800||Jefferson and Wayne Counties||Jonathan Trumbull (1710–1785), Governor of Connecticut when the county was organized||210,312||616.48 sq mi|
|Tuscarawas County||157||New Philadelphia||Mar 15, 1808||Muskingum County||Tuscarawas River, meaning "open mouth river"
the Tuscarawas tribe who lived on the river
|92,582||567.58 sq mi|
|Union County||159||Marysville||Apr 1, 1820||Delaware, Franklin, Logan, and Madison Counties||Its formation by a union of four counties||52,300||436.65 sq mi|
|Van Wert County||161||Van Wert||Apr 1, 1820||Darke County||Isaac Van Wart (1760–1828), captor of spy John André during the Revolutionary War||28,744||410.09 sq mi|
|Vinton County||163||McArthur||Mar 23, 1850||Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, and Ross Counties||Samuel Finley Vinton (1792–1862), Ohio Statesman and U.S. Congressman||13,435||414.08 sq mi|
|Warren County||165||Lebanon||May 1, 1803||Hamilton County||General Joseph Warren (1741–1775), a Revolutionary War officer||212,693||399.63 sq mi|
|Washington County||167||Marietta||Jul 27, 1788||One of the original counties||George Washington (1732–1799), commander of the Continental Army, president of the Constitutional Convention, and future President of the United States||61,778||635.15 sq mi|
|Wayne County||169||Wooster||Mar 1, 1808||From non-county area||General Anthony Wayne (1745–1796), a Revolutionary War officer||114,520||555.36 sq mi|
|Williams County||171||Bryan||Apr 1, 1820||Darke County||David Williams (1754–1831), captor of spy John André during the Revolutionary War||37,642||421.74 sq mi|
|Wood County||173||Bowling Green||Apr 1, 1820||Refactored from non-county territory||Eleazer D. Wood (1783–1814), founder of Fort Meigs||125,488||617.32 sq mi|
|Wyandot County||175||Upper Sandusky||Feb 3, 1845||Marion, Crawford, and Hardin Counties||Wyandot Indians||22,615||405.61 sq mi|
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- "Issue 6 reform wins big and sets in motion even bigger changes for Cuyahoga County". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
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|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Counties in Ohio.|
- Downes, Randolph Chandler. "Evolution of Ohio County Boundaries". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 36: 340–477. Archived from the original on 2014-11-05.
- Taylor, William Alexander; Taylor, Aubrey Clarence (1899). Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900 ... State of Ohio.