Summit County, Ohio

Summit County, Ohio
Summit County is an urban county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 540,428, making it the fourth-most populous county in Ohio. Its county seat and largest city is Akron. The county was formed on March 3, 1840, from portions of Medina, Portage and Stark Counties. It was named Summit County because the highest elevation on the Ohio and Erie Canal is located in the county.
Summit County is part of the Akron, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.7%) is water. The largest portion of Cuyahoga Valley National Park is located in the northern part of the county. The southern border of the former Connecticut Western Reserve passes through the southern part of the county, leading to jogs in the east and west borders of the county.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
Cuyahoga Countynorthwest
Geauga Countynortheast
Portage Countyeast
Stark Countysouth
Wayne Countysouthwest
Medina Countywest
National protected area
Cuyahoga Valley National Park (also extends north into Cuyahoga County)
Government
Summit County, along with Cuyahoga County, is one of two of Ohio's 88 counties that have a charter government, as authorized by Article X of the Ohio Constitution. Under its charter, rather than three elected commissioners, Summit County has an elected County Executive and an eleven-member County Council. Eight members of the council are elected from individual districts; the other three are elected at large. Summit County also has an appointed Medical Examiner rather than an elected Coroner, and an elected Fiscal Officer, who exercises the powers and performs the duties of a county auditor, treasurer and recorder. The remaining officials are similar to the officials in other counties. They include the following:
Clerk of courtsSandra Kurt (D) (elected)
Prosecuting attorneySherri Bevan Walsh (D) (elected)
EngineerAlan Brubaker (D) (elected)
SheriffKandy Fatheree (D) (elected)
Fiscal officerKristen Scalise (D) (elected)
Summit County currently has 14 Common Pleas judges. They are:
Kelly McLaughlin (D),
Kathryn Michael (D),
Christine Croce (R),
Jennifer Towell (D),
Alison McCarty (R),
Tammy O'Brien (R),
Joy Oldfield (D),
Mary Margaret Rowlands (D),
Alison Breaux (D)
Susan Baker Ross (D)
Linda Tucci Teodosio (D) (Juvenile Court Judge)
Katarina Cook (R) (Domestic Relations Judge)
Kani Hightower (D) (Domestic Relations Judge)
Elinore Marsh Stormer (D) (Probate Judge)
Summit County Council
Summit County has an 11-member council. Three members are elected at-large in mid-term cycles, while eight members are elected from districts coinciding with the Presidential election. The current members of Summit County Council are:
Erin Dickinson (D) (at-large)
Elizabeth Walters* (D) (at-large)
John Donofrio (D) (at-large)
Rita Darrow (D) (District 1)
John Schmidt (D) (District 2)
Gloria Rodgers (R) (District 3)
Jeff Wilhite (D) (District 4)
Veronica Sims (D) (District 5)
Christine Higham (D) (District 6)
Beth McKenney (R) (District 7)
Anthony Devitis (R) (District 8)
* Indicates Council President
County Executives
John R. Morgan, 1981–1989
Tim Davis, 1989–2001
James B. McCarthy (D), 2001–2007
Russell M. Pry (D), 2007-2016
Ilene Shapiro (D), 2016–present
Politics
Like much of Northeast Ohio, Summit is heavily Democratic. It has only voted Republican three times since 1932, all in national Republican landslides– Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1956 victory, and the 49-state sweeps by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan in 1972 and 1984, respectively.
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Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 541,781 people, 222,781 households, and 141,110 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 245,109 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 80.6% white, 14.4% black or African American, 2.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.9% were German, 15.3% were Irish, 10.6% were English, 10.1% were Italian, 5.1% were Polish, and 4.5% were American.
Of the 222,781 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.7% were non-families, and 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.0 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,926 and the median income for a family was $62,271. Males had a median income of $47,892 versus $35,140 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,676. About 10.0% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
School districts
School districts in Ohio do not strictly follow city corporation limits or township borders. Many of the school districts in Summit County overlap community borders. Below is a list of all public school districts in the county.
Akron Public School District
Revere Local School District
Copley–Fairlawn City School District
Woodridge Local School District
Hudson City School District
Stow-Munroe Falls City School District
Cuyahoga Falls City School District
Tallmadge City School District
Mogadore Local School District
Springfield Local School District
Coventry Local School District
Green Local School District
Manchester Local School District
Barberton City School District
Norton City School District
Twinsburg City School District
Nordonia Hills City School District
Colleges and universities
University of Akron, Akron
Kent State University Twinsburg Academic Center, Twinsburg
Stark State College Akron
Recreation
Summit Metro Parks
Communities
Cities
Akron (county seat)
Barberton
Cuyahoga Falls
Fairlawn
Green
Hudson
Macedonia
Munroe Falls
New Franklin
Norton (partly in Wayne County)
Reminderville
Stow
Tallmadge
Twinsburg
Villages
Boston Heights
Clinton
Lakemore
Mogadore
Northfield
Peninsula
Richfield
Silver Lake
Townships
Bath
Boston
Copley
Coventry
Northfield Center
Richfield
Sagamore Hills
Springfield
Twinsburg
Defunct townships
Franklin
Green
Hudson
Norton
Northampton
Portage
Stow
Census-designated places
Montrose-Ghent
Pigeon Creek
Portage Lakes
Sawyerwood
Twinsburg Heights
Unincorporated communities
Bath
Boston
Botzum
Brandywine
Comet
Copley
Everett
Ghent
Greensburg
Montrose
Myersville
Western Star
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Summit County, Ohio
References
External links
Official Summit County page
Akron-Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau
Summit Memory, an online scrapbook capturing the history of Summit County, Ohio by the Akron-Summit County Public Library
1840 establishments in Ohio
Populated places established in 1840