Ohio

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2009 CB est.):	11,542,645
Population (2000 Census):	11,353,140
Foreign-Born Population (2009 CB est):	433,330
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census):	339,279
Share Foreign-Born (2009):	3.8%
Share Foreign-Born (2000):	3.0%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2009 CB est.):	215,240
Share Naturalized (2009):	49.7%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 2000-2009):	136,764
Refugee Admission (HHS 2000-2009):	15,413
Illegal Alien Population (2010 FAIR est.)	110,000
Costs of Illegal Aliens (2010 FAIR):	563,100,000
Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR):	12,616,000

Extended Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2009 Ohio’s population had increased to 11,542,645 residents, i.e., an increase of 189,505 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 1.1 percent per year. The comparable national annual rate of increase was 1.0 percent.

The 2000 Census found 11,353,140 persons resident in Ohio. This was an increase of 506,025 persons above the 1990 Census. The annual average increase of 0.5 percent was lower than the national annual average of 1.2 percent population increase.

The 2000 population was about 35,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its state population projections in 1996. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Ohio grew by 49,515 residents (from 10,797,606). That was an annual rate of increase of less than one percent. The national rate of change was 1.0 percent.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Ohio was 433,330 persons in 2009.

Net International Migration (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2009 the state’s population increased by about 120,450 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 12,950 residents, i.e., more than half (56.7%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

FOREIGN-BORN CHANGE

Based on the ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Ohio was 433,330 persons in 2009. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.8 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 10,115 people, which is nearly half (49.6%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 27.7 percent compared to a 0.9 percent increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 7.6 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 11,215 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 21,325 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than the total (104.7%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 42.2 percent of Ohio's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, although it is a slightly lower share than the national average (43.7%). The 2009 ACS estimate was that 37.4 percent of the foreign-born population had entered since 2000. This was higher than the national share of new arrivals of 31.6 percent.

FOREIGN-BORN CHARACTERISTICS

Based on the ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Ohio was 433,330 persons in 2009. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.8 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 10,115 people, which is nearly thalf (49.6%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 27.7 percent compared to a 0.9 percent increase in the native-born population.

Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in Ohio in the 2000 Census)
Spanish	213,145
German	72,570
French	44,395
Italian	27,695
Arabic	22,645
Chinese	21,590
Polish	16,460
Pennsylvania Dutch	16,350
Russian	16,030
Greek	13,655
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The chart above shows the foreign-born population increasing by 5.1 percent since 2000 and the share of that population from Latin America and the Caribbean increasing by 11.9 percent. That region’s share of the state’s immigrant population grew from 19.2 percent to 20.5 percent in 2009.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2009 ACS indicate that 215,240 residents, or 49.7 percent, of the foreign-born population in Ohio were U.S. citizens, compared to 169,295 residents, or 49.9 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born were U.S. citizens in 2000, and 43.7 percent in 2009.

REFUGEE SETTLEMENT

Ohio received 15,413 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'00-'09).

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

In Ohio overall enrollment in 2008 (1,827,184) was 0.8 percent below enrollment in 1999. LEP enrollment was 145.4 percent higher than a decade earlier.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2009/2010 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Ohio as X,XXX. Five schools in the state are listed as having a majority of these students:

Ohio S.U.-Columbus – 4,796.
U. Cincinnati – 2,216
Ohio U.-Athens – 1,463
U. Toledo – 1,454
Case Western Reserve U. – 1,396

Those schools represented about half (49.4%) of the total foreign students in the state.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimated the state’s illegal alien population as of 2010 was as many as 110,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 12 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated that the resident illegal population in Ohio was 40,000 as of 2000. This number 17,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimated the illegal alien population of the state at 120,000 as of 2010.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR’s 2010 fiscal cost study, “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers” estimated the following cost outlays and tax receipts:

Ohio Fiscal Costs In 2009
Due to Illegal Aliens ($M)		(Pct.)
K-12 educ.	$211.4	37.5%
LEP educ.	$42.5	7.5%
Medicaid	$41.7	7.4%
SCHIP	$14.6	2.6%
Justice	$51.8	9.2%
Welfare+	$72.1	12.8%
General	$129.0	22.9%
Total	$563.1
Tax Receipts	$23.2
Net Cost	$539.9

Source: “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers,” FAIR 2010.

POPULATION PROJECTION

We projected Ohio’s population in 2050 likely would be between 12.42 million and 12.62 million depending on what happens with immigration policy. See “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050: Four Immigration Scenarios,” FAIR 2006.

Immigrant Admissions

Ohio Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
2000	9,263
2001	14,725
2002	13,875
2003	9,805
2004	11,559
2005	13,897
2006	16,592
2007	14,078
2008	14,595
2009	15,375
Total	136,764

Recent immigrant admissions are at 208 percent of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 7,440 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 15,505 persons.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 5,444 in FY'65 to 16,897 in FY’05. The cumulative total of admissions to Ohio between fiscal years 1965 and 2009 was about 136,765 immigrants.

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'93 - FY'02

The INS data below are furnished for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1993. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in Wyoming during this period.

The Department of Homeland Security website has detailed data on immigrant admissions since FY’03 by year and by country. (See http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/dslpr.shtm)

Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
Country	FY'93	FY'94	FY'95	FY'96	FY'97	FY'98	FY'99	FY'00	FY'01	FY'02	Total
Bangladesh	-	-	-	55	57	48	51	61	-	52	324
Canada	423	394	386	544	256	307	231	360	608	524	4,033
China *	2,147	1,079	734	982	776	658	596	853	1,282	1,264	10,371
Colombia	44	48	54	42	61	44	45	62	130	103	633
Cuba	11	5	8	19	25	18	20	22	35	16	179
Dom. Rep.	23	33	44	29	29	32	27	34	61	51	363
Ecuador	5	-	7	14	14	15	19	24	42	28	168
El Salvador	11	19	11	25	13	20	22	19	48	29	217
Germany	171	193	161	-	95	124	110	149	244	227	1,474
Guatemala	23	18	36	32	32	40	47	66	82	127	503
Guyana	28	40	28	31	26	17	18	18	-	42	248
Haiti	3	6	7	6	19	18	19	5	31	18	132
Honduras	38	-	-	-	24	28	23	20	-	40	173
India	877	800	806	1,122	809	900	614	804	1,651	1,734	10,117
Iran	143	124	99	141	115	115	84	93	104	84	1,102
Ireland	157	181	-	-	6	21	12	25	-	23	425
Jamaica	71	74	88	112	71	51	66	89	118	93	833
Japan	-	85	-	-	103	105	67	126	185	122	793
Korea	240	174	181	188	140	151	169	167	224	215	1,849
Mexico	151	134	212	320	304	311	269	345	633	543	3,222
Nicaragua	-	-	-	-	15	19	20	44	65	24	187
Nigeria	-	-	95	116	103	94	100	112	-	123	743
Pakistan	120	129	107	160	146	141	179	149	198	201	1,530
Peru	44	34	35	64	37	33	39	56	74	65	481
Philippines	414	319	300	343	309	221	210	281	452	372	3,221
Poland	192	211	147	133	77	116	47	97	140	115	1,275
Sov. Un. *	1,866	1,743	1,481	1,158	983	809	1,441	1,154	1,269	821	12,725
Trin.& Tob.	-	29	-	-	22	27	17	14	-	33	142
U. Kingdom	334	315	265	291	194	188	159	285	419	330	2,780
Vietnam	481	331	350	294	343	263	263	280	358	359	3,322
Yugo. *	-	-	197	267	236	245	203	361	646	1,358	3,513
Other	2,686	2,666	2,746	3,749	2,749	2,518	1,668	3,088	5,626	4,739	32,235
Total	10,703	9,184	8,585	10,237	8,189	7,697	6,855	9,263	14,725	13,875	99,313

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year were not published for that country in the INS Statistical Yearbook.
* China data include Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former USSR data continued since break-up (except FY'96-'97 and ’01 include only Russia and Ukraine). Former Yugoslavia data continued since break-up.

The 31 nationalities above represent more than two-thirds (67.5%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Ohio during this ten-year period. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union accounted for more than one-eighth (12.8%) of Ohio's new immigrants during the period. Those immigrants combined with those from China and India comprise about one-third (33.4%) of all immigrants admitted since 1993.

Ohio : Poll Data

Rasmussen Poll: Arizona Law SB 1070
July 2010

Suppose the new Arizona immigration law was being considered for your state. Would you favor or oppose passage of that law in your state?

The U.S. Justice Department has decided to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law?

A Quinnipiac University Poll conducted of 1,178 Ohio voters from November 26-December 03, 2007 found:

71% favor stricter immigration laws and are opposed to amnesty.
22% would not vote for a candidate if they completely disagree with him or her on immigration, but agree on other issues.

A Quinnipiac University Poll taken from November 6-11, 2007 of 1,231 Ohio voters found:

89% believe immigration is a serious problem. (63% “very serious” and 26% “somewhat serious”).
88% support a government measure requiring employers’ to verify social security numbers before employment.
86% oppose providing legal immigrants with government-subsidized health insurance
85% oppose providing illegal immigrants with social services such as welfare, food stamps, and housing assistance.
84% of voters believe the government should not issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants
82% favor stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties against employers who hire illegal workers.
67% believe illegal immigration hurts the country, more than helps it.
61% oppose providing a free public education for children of illegal aliens
61% support a tamper proof national card for all legal Americans
60% support a fence along the Mexican border to reduce illegal immigration

Ohio : Immigration Impact

Population Profile

The cities of Dayton and Cincinnati have grown into one another in a rush of development, which residents complain is wiping out farmland and overtaxing water, traffic, and school systems.¹ Growth has been particularly dramatic in Ohio's fastest growing county, Warren County just north of Columbus, which grew 64 percent between 1990 and 2000.²

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water:By 2050 the state's population is projected to rise from 11.5 million in 2006 to over 12.6 million.³ Ohio has a daily, per-capita water demand of 129.5 gallons.⁴ This means that by 2050 public water usage will have increased by 142.5 million gallons each day.

Traffic:Vehicle traffic on Ohio highways increased by 27 percent between 1990 and 2007. Nearly one-half (45%) of Ohio's major urban highways are congested. One-quarter (25%) of Ohio's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 27 percent of its bridges are structurally obsolete.⁵ Unfortunately, the state’s budget has not been able to keep up with increasing congestion. By 2014, Ohio is projected to have a $10.1 billion highway funding shortfall at the state level alone.⁶ In 2007, it was estimated that poor road conditions cost Ohio residents $1.7 billion each year in repair and operating expenses.⁷

Vehicle traffic on Ohio highways increased by 27 percent between 1990 and 2007. Nearly one-half (45%) of Ohio's major urban highways are congested. One-quarter (25%) of Ohio's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 27 percent of its bridges are structurally obsolete.⁸ Unfortunately, the state’s budget has not been able to keep up with increasing congestion. By 2014, Ohio is projected to have a $10.1 billion highway funding shortfall at the state level alone.⁹ In 2007, it was estimated that poor road conditions cost Ohio residents $1.7 billion each year in repair and operating expenses.¹⁰

Between the Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo urban areas, congestion cost commuters $1.4 billion in wasted time and extra fuel alone in 2007. Nationwide, the cost of congestion was over $87 billion. In 2002, traffic congestion amounted to approximately 250 million hours of lost time for Ohio motorists and will increase to nearly 460 million hours of delay by 2020. In 2002, 25 percent of residents of Columbus listed traffic congestion as their number one concern about the area; it was the first time traffic had surpassed crime as the top concern.¹¹

Disappearing open space:The amount of developed land in Ohio increased by nearly 1.3 million acres between 1982 and 2007, growing at a pace of 42,000 acres per year for the last 10 years of that period.¹² Ohio's available farmland decreased twelve percent between 1982 and 1997, from 15.2 million to 13.6 million acres, and its pasture land decreased 40 percent, from 2.8 million acres to 2 million acres. Ohio ranked eighth in the nation in the amount of land that was converted to urban uses between 1992 and 1997. In that same period, Ohio ranked second out of all states in acreage of prime agricultural land converted to urban uses.¹³ Ohio's original wetlands areas have declined from about five million acres to less than half a million acres—a loss of 90 percent.¹⁴

Sprawl: A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 110.4 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Columbus metropolitan area, and 46.5 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Cincinnati metro area, which crosses into Kentucky, sprawl consumed an additional 176.6 square miles and population increase accounted for 20.8 percent of the increase.¹⁵

Crowded housing: An estimated 52,819 of Ohio’s housing units were classified as crowded in 2008, defined as units with more than one occupant per room. This amounted to 1.2 percent of the state’s housing units. 9,829 of those were severely crowded, with at least 1.5 occupants per room.¹⁶ Following the national trend, crowded housing rates were driven upward by immigration. 13 percent of children in immigrant families live in crowded housing, more than double the 5 percent of children with native-born parents.¹⁷

Air pollution: Hamilton County is the tenth-most polluted county in the U.S. measured by year-round particle pollution, and Cuyahoga County ranked 21st. Of the 32 counties graded for the number of high ozone days in the American Lung Association’s 2010 assessment, 24 received an "F," five received a "D," and three received a "C." ¹⁸ In 2000, the power plants used to support Ohio's population produced 375,000 tons of nitrous oxide, the equivalent of the annual emissions from 19 million cars.¹⁹

Poverty: As in almost all states, Ohio’s immigrants are more likely to be poor than their native-born counterparts. In 2007, 15.0 percent of foreign-born households were below the poverty line, compared to 13.1 percent of native households. An additional 8.7 percent of the foreign-born and 8.2 percent of native households were not in poverty but had incomes less than 1.5 times the poverty level.²⁰ 21.5 percent of immigrant children lived in a poor family in 2006, compared to 17.6 percent of native children.²¹

Education: Public school enrollment in Ohio increased by 58,000 students between 1998 and 2008. Over the same period, the number of students per teacher increased from 16.5 to 17.1, the ninth-highest ratio in the country.²² The Cincinnati school district was already using more than 130 temporary trailer classrooms in 2003.²³ In Columbus, one quarter of all schools are overcrowded.²⁴ In Hilliard, some classes meet daily in staff dining rooms and study halls are being held in gyms.

Solid Waste: Ohio generates 1.42 tons of solid waste per capita.²⁵

Endnotes:

Lynn Hulsey and Lawrence Budd, "Rush to the Middle: Growth has Joined Dayton and Cincinnati into One City," Dayton Daily News, October 28, 2001.
Joann Rouse, "Warren County Continues Growth," Dayton Daily News, February 24, 2002.
Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel. "Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050." FAIR. March 2006.
U.S. Geological Survey 2000
Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, "State Page: Ohio," Accessed July 21, 2010.
American Society of Civil Engineers, "2009 Ohio Infrastructure Report Card."
The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Ohio’s Road and Bridge Conditions and Federal Funding." February 2007.
Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, "State Page: Ohio," Accessed July 21, 2010.
American Society of Civil Engineers, "2009 Ohio Infrastructure Report Card."
The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Ohio’s Road and Bridge Conditions and Federal Funding." February 2007.
"Curing Myopia; Regional Planning a Must for Central Ohio," Columbus Dispatch, April 28, 2002.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, "Summary Report: 2007 National Resources Inventory."
"Growth and Change at the Rural-Urban Interface: An Overview of Ohio's Changing Population and Land Use," The Exurban Change Project, Ohio State University, March 2003.
"A History of Ohio Wetlands," Ohio Department of Natural Resources website.
Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, "Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities," NumbersUSA, March 2001.
American Community Survey, Three-Year Estimates 2006-2008. Custom Table.
Kids Count Data Center (2008 American Community Survey Data)
American Lung Association, "State of the Air 2010."
Dennis Fiely, "Evidence Building for Deadly Effects of Air Pollution," Columbus Dispatch, June 17, 2002.
Migration Information Source State Data (Migration Policy Institute)
Urban Institute, state data accessed through data tool.
NEA, "Rankings and Estimates," 1999 and 2009 editions.
Jennifer Mrozowski, "Four Schools May Add Trailers," Cincinnati Enquirer, March 8, 2003.
"Condition of Columbus Schools," KidsOhio.org, Fall 2002.
"Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.

Other Resources

State Local Reform Organizations

State Representatives Voting Record

Updated December 2011

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