Portage County, Ohio

Portage County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 152,061. Its is. Portage County is for the  between the  and  Rivers.

History
The name "Portage" comes from an old path called "Portage Trail", which ran between the  and  rivers, where travelers d their canoes.

The first settler was Abraham Honey in, followed by settlements in and.

Geographic features
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,313 (507 ). 1,275 km² (492 sq mi) of it is land and 38 km² (15 sq mi) of it (2.90%) is water.

is a very large state park in central Portage County, consisting of a large green surrounding the Michael J. Kirwan Dam and Reservoir. There are a number of smaller state and local parks.

Major highways
,, and pass through Portage county heading East-West.

connects to in  and is a major thoroughfare for those heading north. It also serves to connect Portage County to proper.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest corner)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 152,061 people, 56,449 households, and 39,175 families residing in the county. The was 119/km² (309/sq mi). There were 60,096 housing units at an average density of 47/km² (122/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.40%, 3.18% or , 0.18% , 0.82% , 0.01% , 0.22% from , and 1.19% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 56,449 households out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.40% 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 3.03.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.70% under the age of 18, 14.30% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,347, and the median income for a family was $52,820. Males had a median income of $37,434 versus $26,232 for females. The for the county was $20,428. About 5.90% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the, including 9.90% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Main article: 

Localities
Portage County is arranged as a 4x5 grid of 20 rectangles: 18 unincorporated containing 9  and villages; and two incorporated townships which are fully occupied by one city each.

Under Ohio law, there are two types of incorporated municipal jurisdictions: and, and any territory within a county that is not part of an incorporated municipality (city or village), is part of a. Townships have limited local government and services.



The two incorporated townships are:


 * (fully occupies the former Aurora township)
 * (occupies most of the former Streetsboro township)

There are 18 unincorporated townships:



There are an additional 9 villages and cities contained within those 18 townships:


 * (Franklin Township)
 * (Hiram and Nelson Townships)
 * (Hiram Township)
 * (Franklin Township & small portion of Brimfield Township)
 * (Mantua Township)
 * (Suffield Township)
 * (Ravenna Township)
 * (Streetsboro city and Franklin Township)
 * (Windham Township)

In addition to the above, a small part of is in Brimfield Township (the rest of the city is in ).

Two small in Portage County have their own s:

There is one unincorporated, in Brimfield Township:

The, commonly known as the Ravenna Arsenal, consumes much of the land in Charlestown, Paris, and Windham Township, as well as a small part of Freedom Township.

Colleges and universities
is in, in west-central Portage County, well-connected to Streetsboro, Ravenna, and most of.

is in in Northwest Portage County.

The (NEOUCOM) is in, in South central Portage County.