Hamilton County vs Summit County

A side-by-side comparison of Hamilton County and Summit County: population, income, housing, and more.

Hamilton County and Summit County are counties in Ohio. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hamilton County has the higher population (827,878 vs 538,087 in Summit County). Summit County has the higher median household income ($71,016 vs $70,816 in Hamilton County). Hamilton County has the higher median home value ($225,700 vs $195,700 in Summit County).

Population, income & housing

	Hamilton County	Summit County
Population	827,878	538,087
Median age	36.9 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$70,816	$71,016
Median home value	$225,700	$195,700
Median gross rent	$1,005	$998
Housing units	380,414	247,239
Homeownership rate	59.0%	67.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.4%	35.3%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hamilton County	Summit County
Population	813,589 → 827,878 (+1.8%)	541,334 → 538,087 (-0.6%)
Median household income	$57,212 → $70,816 (+23.8%)	$57,181 → $71,016 (+24.2%)
Median home value	$155,400 → $225,700 (+45.2%)	$146,800 → $195,700 (+33.3%)
Median gross rent	$810 → $1,005 (+24.1%)	$823 → $998 (+21.3%)

Hamilton County

Population

813,589827,878

Median household income

$57,212$70,816

Median home value

$155,400$225,700

Median gross rent

$810$1,005

Summit County

Population

541,334538,087

Median household income

$57,181$71,016

Median home value

$146,800$195,700

Median gross rent

$823$998

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hamilton County	Summit County
Under 5	6.3%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.8%	15.4%
18 to 24	9.2%	8.1%
25 to 34	15.0%	13.4%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.3%
45 to 54	11.2%	12.3%
55 to 64	12.7%	14.1%
65 to 74	9.8%	11.4%
75 and over	6.4%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hamilton County	Summit County
White (non-Hispanic)	62.9%	74.2%
Black or African American	24.9%	13.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	2.7%	4.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.2%	4.9%
Hispanic or Latino	4.5%	2.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hamilton County	Summit County
No high school diploma	7.5%	7.1%
High school graduate	25.5%	29.2%
Some college or associate's	25.6%	28.4%
Bachelor's degree	24.7%	22.3%
Graduate or professional degree	16.7%	13.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hamilton County	Summit County
Drove alone	71.9%	76.7%
Carpooled	7.5%	7.2%
Public transit	2.8%	0.9%
Walked	2.6%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	13.7%	13.0%
Other means	1.3%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hamilton County	Summit County
1-unit, detached	58.1%	71.8%
1-unit, attached	4.6%	5.5%
2 to 4 units	12.6%	7.3%
5 to 19 units	13.7%	7.3%
20 or more units	10.1%	7.4%
Mobile home & other	0.8%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Hamilton County	Summit County
Poverty rate	14.9%	12.6%
Average household size	2.30	2.31
Mean commute (minutes)	23	23
Median year structure built	1963	1965