I don't know why but population figures fascinate me. They occasionally become relevant when we talk about conference realignments and TV revenues and since we don't have a season this year, I'll look at this.
Ohio's historical population:
Ohio became a State in 1803. In the first census after that (1810) Ohio was 13th in total population out of 17 states. The 17 were ranked:
- NY 959k
- VA 878k
- PA 810k
- NC 557k
- MA 472k
- SC 415k
- KY 406k
- MD 381k
- CT 262k
- TN 262k
- GA 251k
- NJ 246k
- OH 231k
- VT 217k
- NH 214k
- RI 77k
- DE 73k
In the 1820 census OH was #5, passing all but NY, PA, VA, and NC. Passed NJ, GA, TN, CT, MD, KY, SC, MA
In the 1830 census OH was #4, passing NC.
In the 1840 census OH was #3, passing VA.
In the 1850 through 1880 census OH was #3.
In the 1890 census OH was #4, passed by IL.
In the 1900 through 1940 census OH was #4.
In the 1950 census OH was #5, passed by CA. Note, CA also passed IL and PA to move from #5 in 1940 to #2 in 1950.
In the 1960 census OH was #5.
In the 1970 census OH was #6, passed by TX. Note, TX also passed IL to move from #6 to #4 and this was the first-ever US census in which NY was not #1. CA took that spot.
In the 1980 census OH was #6.
In the 1990 census OH was #7, passed by FL. Note, FL also passed PA and IL to move from #7 to #4.
In the 2000 census OH was #7.
In the 2010 census OH was #7.
In the 2020 census OH will probably still be #7 but GA and NC are gaining fast. In the 2010 census MI was #8, GA was #9, and NC was #10 but the census bureau's current estimate is that GA and NC have both passed MI. They are still about a million down on Ohio but they are estimated to have gained about that number since 2010 so:
In the 2030 census OH will probably be #9, passed by GA and NC.