When the US Census Bureau released its latest estimates last week for county population across the country, Crawford County’s continued challenges in growth were evident.

Crawford County lost 0.7 percent of its population last year, which was a slightly higher increase than the year before.

Delaware County had the second highest growth rate in Ohio over the last two years, 5.7 percent. Only Union County had a higher rate of increase at 6.5 percent.

The rate of decline across Ohio slowed somewhat over the last year, suggesting that the pandemic and other factors had an impact. At the same time, however, central Ohio’s strong growth (Licking County was in seventh place statewide) emphasizes the need for the region to address transportation and housing needs.

Ohio lost 41,500 residents in this period of time.

Specific Crawford County numbers released were as follows:

2021-2022

Total Population Change:  -275
Natural Change: -274
Births: 447
Deaths: 721
Total Migration: 21
International: 52
Domestic: -31

Crawford County’s total population now stands at an estimated 41,522, down from 42,003 in 2020.

Image by Mircea – All in collections from Pixabay