Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Cuyahoga County is a county in Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie about
35 miles west of Youngstown and 100 miles east of Toledo. It had a population of 1,264,817 at
the 2020 census, an estimated 1,232,925 by 2025, and covers 457 square miles (1,184 km2) of
land plus 788 square miles of Lake Erie waters within its boundary, centred near 41°32′N 81°40′W.

Cleveland is the county seat and largest city; its downtown postal code is 44113. The county
holds 38 cities, 19 villages and 2 remaining civil townships — more incorporated
municipalities than any other Ohio county — and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is
39035.

Towns & Villages in Cuyahoga County

Cuyahoga County has 57 incorporated municipalities on record: 38 cities and 19 villages,
plus two unincorporated civil townships covered separately below. Almost the entire county is
incorporated, which is unusual for Ohio — only small pockets of Chagrin Falls Township and
Olmsted Township remain outside any city or village.

Two names on the list are easy to confuse. Oakwood, Ohio is a small village in the county’s
southeast corner near Walton Hills, distinct from the many other Oakwoods in Ohio. Mayfield
Heights and the separate village of Mayfield are adjoining but legally separate places; Mayfield
Heights is nine times larger. Chagrin Falls Village and Chagrin Falls Township are also
separate: the village is fully incorporated, while the township is the thin unincorporated ring
around it, covered below.

Townships

Cuyahoga is Ohio’s most heavily incorporated county — only two civil townships still
have any unincorporated territory, and both are small.

Olmsted Township’s 14,506 residents live entirely outside any city or village and are
counted separately from the City of Olmsted Falls. Chagrin Falls Township’s total population
of 4,317 includes the Village of Chagrin Falls; only 129 people live in the unincorporated
portion outside the village limits, and that is the figure in the table above.

ZIP Codes

Cuyahoga County uses about 52 standard delivery ZIP codes, most of them Cleveland’s own
— the city alone carries roughly 30 codes in the 44101–44199 range, plus a handful of
PO-box-only and single-institution codes for the Cleveland Clinic and federal offices. Every
suburb runs its own code or codes: Lakewood is 44107, Parma splits across 44129 and 44134,
Euclid across 44117, 44119, 44123 and 44132, Westlake is 44145, Strongsville splits 44136 and
44149, and Chagrin Falls is 44022. The county’s smaller villages — Bentleyville,
Brooklyn Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Glenwillow, Highland Hills, Hunting Valley, Linndale, North
Randall, Valley View, Walton Hills and Woodmere — have no ZIP code of their own; mail there
is delivered under a neighboring city’s code.

Geography

Cuyahoga County sits in Ohio’s northeast corner on the southern shore of Lake Erie, in a
region of glacial ridges and river valleys known as the Lake Erie Plain. Of its 1,246 square
miles, only 457 are land; the other 788 square miles — 63 percent of the county’s
total area — are Lake Erie waters within its boundary, which makes Cuyahoga the second
largest county in Ohio by total area despite ranking well down the list by land area. The
Cuyahoga River, for which the county is named, bisects it and empties into Lake Erie at
downtown Cleveland; a portion of Cuyahoga Valley National Park lies in the county’s
southeastern corner.

Lake County lies to the northeast, Geauga County to the east, Summit County to the
southeast, Medina County to the southwest, Lorain County to the west, and Portage County
touches the southeastern corner. Lake
County, Geauga County, Summit County and Lorain County each have a live profile on
this site; Medina County and Portage County do not yet.

Demographics

Cuyahoga County had a population of 1,264,817 at the 2020 census, and the latest county
estimate puts it at 1,232,925, a decline of about 2.5 percent. It remains Ohio’s
second-most populous county after Franklin County. Cleveland and Parma are by far the two
largest communities, together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Ohio’s
statewide median household income is $67,769 (2023 ACS); Cuyahoga County’s major cities span
a wide range around that figure, from working-class inner suburbs to some of the wealthiest
communities in Ohio, such as Pepper Pike, Hunting Valley and Moreland Hills. Population density
works out to roughly 2,766 people per square mile of land, among the highest of any county in
Ohio.

Economy & Local Life

Health care is the county’s largest employment sector, anchored by the Cleveland Clinic
main campus and its Fairview and Lutheran hospitals, and by University Hospitals’ Case
Medical Center in University Circle along with satellite hospitals in Beachwood, Bedford,
Parma, Richmond Heights and Garfield Heights. Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland
State University are the county’s two largest universities. NASA’s Glenn Research
Center, a major aerospace and propulsion research facility, sits next to Cleveland Hopkins
International Airport in Brook Park and Cleveland. The county’s economy produced $104.292
billion in gross domestic product in 2022. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Cleveland’s
lakefront draws visitors from across the country, and Cleveland Guardians baseball at Progressive
Field each summer is the county’s biggest recurring draw.

History

Ohio’s territorial government created Cuyahoga County on June 7, 1807, and organized it on
May 1, 1810, naming it for the Cuyahoga River — an Iroquoian word meaning “crooked
river.” Cleveland, founded in 1796 by General Moses Cleaveland while surveying the
Connecticut Western Reserve, was chosen as the county seat in 1809. Later Ohio legislation
carved Huron, Lake and Lorain counties out of Cuyahoga’s original territory, shrinking it to
its present size.

Future U.S. President James A. Garfield was born in 1831 in what was then Orange Township,
now part of Moreland Hills. Through the 19th and 20th centuries the county grew into one of
the country’s major industrial centers, built on steel, shipping and manufacturing along
the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie waterfront; that industrial legacy, and its later decline,
still shapes the county’s older river-valley suburbs today.

Getting There

Interstates 71, 77, 90, 271 and 480 all cross the county, along with the Ohio Turnpike
(Interstate 80). Interstate 90 runs along the Lake Erie shore through Cleveland, Lakewood,
Rocky River, Bay Village and Euclid.

• Akron — about 35 miles south
• Youngstown — about 65 miles southeast
• Toledo — about 115 miles west
• Erie, Pennsylvania — about 100 miles east

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, on the Cleveland-Brook Park line, is the county’s
main commercial airport. Burke Lakefront Airport, on Cleveland’s downtown shoreline,
handles general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak’s Lakefront Station in Cleveland
serves the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited lines, with direct service to Chicago, New
York, Boston and Washington, D.C.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Cuyahoga County located?
It sits on Lake Erie’s southern shore in northeast Ohio, bordered by Lake, Geauga, Summit,
Medina, Lorain and Portage counties.

What is the population of Cuyahoga County?
1,264,817 at the 2020 census, with a more recent estimate near 1,232,925.

How big is Cuyahoga County?
1,246 square miles in total, of which 457 square miles (1,184 km2) are land and 788 square
miles are Lake Erie waters.

What is the county seat of Cuyahoga County?
Cleveland, the county’s largest city and postal code 44113 downtown, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Cuyahoga County?
57 incorporated municipalities — 38 cities and 19 villages — plus two unincorporated
civil townships, Olmsted and Chagrin Falls.

What ZIP codes does Cuyahoga County use?
About 52 standard codes, from Cleveland’s own 44101–44199 range to suburban codes
like 44107 (Lakewood), 44129/44134 (Parma) and 44145 (Westlake).

What is Cuyahoga County known for?
Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Clinic, NASA’s Glenn Research
Center, and being the most heavily incorporated county in Ohio.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Ohio.