According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 419.38 square miles (1,086 km2), of which 412.08 square miles (1,067 km2) is land and 7.3 square miles (19 km2) (1.7%) is water.[6] The largest portion ofCuyahoga Valley National Park is in the northern part of the county. The southern border of the formerConnecticut Western Reserve passes through the southern part of the county, leading to jogs in the east and west borders of the county.
Summit County, along withCuyahoga County, is one of two of Ohio's 88 counties that have acharter government, as authorized by Article X of theOhio 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:
SWAT vehicle of the Summit County Sheriff's Office
Summit County has an 11-member council. Three members are elected at-large in midterm cycles, while eight members are elected from districts coinciding with the presidential election. The current members of Summit County Council are:
Like much of Northeast Ohio, Summit is heavily Democratic. It has voted Republican only three times since 1932, all in national Republican landslides–Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1956 victory, and the 49-state sweeps byRichard Nixon andRonald Reagan in 1972 and 1984, respectively.
United States presidential election results for Summit County, Ohio[24]
As of thecensus of 2010, there were 541,781 people, 222,781 households, and 141,110 families residing in the county.[30] The population density was 1,312.6 inhabitants per square mile (506.8/km2). There were 245,109 housing units at an average density of 593.8 per square mile (229.3/km2).[31] 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.[30] In terms of ancestry, 24.9% wereGerman, 15.3% wereIrish, 10.6% wereEnglish, 10.1% wereItalian, 5.1% werePolish, and 4.5% wereAmerican.[32]
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.[30]
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 thepoverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.[33]
Map of Summit County, Ohio With Municipal and Township Labels. The map denotes New Franklin and Franklin Township as separate entities, predating their 2003 merger.
^On July 12, 2007, Pry was appointed by a majority vote of the Summit County Democratic Party's Central Committee to finish the remainder of McCarthy's second term. "Pry Named County Executive."Akron Beacon Journal, July 13, 2007
^On November 4, 2008, Pry was elected to a four-year term as County Executive with over 60% of the vote. "Republicans Lose More Ground in Summit Races, Democrats Gain Spot with Brubaker Beating Incumbent Engineer."Akron Beacon Journal, November 6, 2008
^On November 6, 2012, Pry was elected to a second four-year term as County Executive with over 62% of the vote. "Democrats Maintain Summit County Seats."Akron Beacon Journal, November 7, 2012