322,030 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.7% since 2020)
491 square miles of land · 656 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
16 active community water systems list Lorain County in the area they serve, reporting 338,231 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| RURAL LORAIN CO. WATER A buys surface water · local government · OH4701803 | 73,125 served |
| ELYRIA WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · OH4700411 | 68,000 served |
| LORAIN CITY PWS surface water · local government · OH4700711 | 64,152 served |
| NORTH RIDGEVILLE CITY PWS buys surface water · local government · OH4700803 | 37,786 served |
| AVON CITY PWS buys surface water · local government · OH4700203 | 24,060 served |
| AVON LAKE CITY PWS surface water · local government · OH4700311 | 23,659 served |
| AMHERST CITY PWS buys surface water · local government · OH4700003 | 11,797 served |
| SHEFFIELD LAKE CITY PWS buys surface water · local government · OH4701103 | 9,108 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 387 people were held in Lorain County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 196 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 409.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
15 school districts have their office in Lorain County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $131.5 million — $117.9 million to run schools, about $19,864 per student, plus $7.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.5 million local (mostly property tax), $72.5 million state, $17.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.6 million.
Spent $117.8 million — $99.9 million to run schools, about $17,206 per student, plus $7.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.3 million local (mostly property tax), $41.9 million state, $25.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $88.1 million.
Spent $60.5 million — $52.5 million to run schools, about $11,459 per student, plus $5.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $45.3 million local (mostly property tax), $11.6 million state, $4.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.5 million.
Spent $59.8 million — $53.6 million to run schools, about $11,873 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $41.2 million local (mostly property tax), $17.9 million state, $5.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $62.3 million.
Spent $47.3 million — $42.1 million to run schools, about $11,818 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $26.4 million local (mostly property tax), $17.2 million state, $3.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.1 million.
Spent $56.4 million — $51.5 million to run schools, about $14,510 per student, plus $2.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $44.9 million local (mostly property tax), $9.1 million state, $3.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $33.6 million.
Spent $42.3 million — $37.9 million to run schools, about $13,632 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $25.3 million local (mostly property tax), $15.6 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.7 million.
Spent $30.1 million — $22.4 million to run schools, about $13,282 per student, plus $6.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.9 million local (mostly property tax), $10.9 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $23 million.
And 7 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lorain County about $65.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
370 bridges in Lorain County: 204 in good condition, 144 fair, and 22 poor (5.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| SR 58 over BRANCH OF BEAVER CREEK · built 1965 | 19,498 vehicles a day |
| SUGAR RIDGE RD. over CREEK SUGAR RIDGE · built 1991 | 14,095 vehicles a day |
| COOPER-FOSTER PK. over BEAVER CR C.P.PARK · built 1941 | 10,706 vehicles a day |
| EB TPK RP TO I480 over I80 OHIO TURNPIKE · built 1981 | 8,955 vehicles a day |
| USR 6 over MARTINS RUN · built 1956 | 7,584 vehicles a day |
| SR 83 over OVER LOR-10-0296 · built 1979 | 6,159 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $178.8 million of work in Lorain County in fiscal 2025, about $571 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Ohio are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Lorain County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Lorain County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Erie County (21 mi) · Medina County (27 mi) · Huron County (30 mi) · Cuyahoga County (31 mi) · Summit County (40 mi) · Ashland County (41 mi).