Licking County, Ohio

Licking County is a located in the  of,. As of the, the population was 145,491. According to the 's 2005 Population Estimates the population was 154,806 in 2005. Its is  and is  for the s that were in the area.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,783 (688 ). 1,778 km² (686 sq mi) of it is land and 5 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.27%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 146,491 people, 55,609 households, and 40,149 families residing in the county. The was 82/km² (212/sq mi). There were 58,760 housing units at an average density of 33/km² (86/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 95.64%, 2.06% or , 0.30% , 0.58% , 0.02% , 0.30% from , and 1.10% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 55,609 households out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.80% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.00% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 29.40% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,124, and the median income for a family was $51,969. Males had a median income of $37,957 versus $26,884 for females. The for the county was $20,581. About 5.50% of families and 7.50% of the population were below the, including 9.10% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.

Places of interest

 * Circular and octagonal Native American mounds dating from the Hopewell period
 * Flint Ridge State Memorial
 * Ye Olde Mill in Utica (where Velvet ice cream is produced)
 * Heisey Glass Museum
 * Longaberger Basket Facility (building is a replica of large basket)
 * National Trail Raceway - NHRA Approved Dragway
 * National Trail Raceway - NHRA Approved Dragway

Sports
Licking County has long been a hotbed for high school sports due to the many high school athletic programs in the county, including, , , , , , and. In baseball, a state title has been won by a Licking County high school team every year dating back to 2002. It was in that year that three Licking County teams won state titles. Newark Catholic High School and Heath High School alone have combined for eight state titles in just a six year span.

Government
Main article: .