Counties with the oldest homes in Ohio
Counties with the oldest homes in Ohio
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 11.4% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties in Ohio with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2023 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which counties in Ohio have the oldest homes.
#50. Washington County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.7% (5,805 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (100 homes)
- Total homes built: 27,979
#49. Carroll County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.2% (3,104 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (24 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,391
#48. Logan County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.0% (5,704 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (171 homes)
- Total homes built: 23,797
#47. Lake County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.8% (10,325 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (691 homes)
- Total homes built: 105,877
#46. Lorain County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 14.7% (19,928 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.2% (1,573 homes)
- Total homes built: 135,584
#45. Muskingum County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.5% (8,626 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (184 homes)
- Total homes built: 38,343
#44. Hancock County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.9% (7,762 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (187 homes)
- Total homes built: 33,871
#43. Guernsey County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.3% (4,424 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (40 homes)
- Total homes built: 19,024
#42. Putnam County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.1% (3,487 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (21 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,870
#41. Knox County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.4% (6,618 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (170 homes)
- Total homes built: 26,038
#40. Preble County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.4% (4,789 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (37 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,106
#39. Auglaize County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.8% (5,374 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (131 homes)
- Total homes built: 20,034
#38. Fayette County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.3% (2,579 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (38 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,694
#37. Miami County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.5% (10,584 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (435 homes)
- Total homes built: 47,028
#36. Tuscarawas County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.6% (10,448 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (135 homes)
- Total homes built: 40,840
#35. Fulton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 27.7% (4,899 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (87 homes)
- Total homes built: 17,708
#34. Paulding County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.5% (2,008 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (19 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,533
#33. Hardin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.4% (3,674 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (78 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,921
#32. Scioto County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 19.7% (6,537 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (96 homes)
- Total homes built: 33,153
#31. Ashland County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.1% (5,643 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (193 homes)
- Total homes built: 22,517
#30. Coshocton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.0% (4,570 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (106 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,321
#29. Champaign County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.7% (5,192 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (122 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,904
#28. Huron County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.7% (6,566 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (68 homes)
- Total homes built: 25,575
#27. Defiance County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.3% (4,353 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (28 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,570
#26. Montgomery County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 15.7% (39,761 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (999 homes)
- Total homes built: 252,475
#25. Stark County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 21.0% (35,129 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (767 homes)
- Total homes built: 167,525
#24. Erie County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 21.4% (8,202 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (91 homes)
- Total homes built: 38,400
#23. Williams County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 27.0% (4,480 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,574
#22. Summit County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.3% (50,098 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (1,062 homes)
- Total homes built: 247,239
#21. Allen County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.6% (10,545 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (115 homes)
- Total homes built: 44,697
#20. Harrison County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.8% (1,982 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (35 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,397
#19. Trumbull County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.7% (17,661 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (158 homes)
- Total homes built: 94,510
#18. Richland County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.8% (10,294 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (212 homes)
- Total homes built: 54,616
#17. Columbiana County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.8% (12,379 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (164 homes)
- Total homes built: 46,133
#16. Belmont County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.9% (8,500 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (53 homes)
- Total homes built: 31,599
#15. Mahoning County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 19.5% (21,044 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (301 homes)
- Total homes built: 108,077
#14. Hamilton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.4% (92,845 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (1,792 homes)
- Total homes built: 380,414
#13. Clark County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.8% (15,152 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (56 homes)
- Total homes built: 61,092
#12. Marion County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.6% (8,094 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (74 homes)
- Total homes built: 27,381
#11. Henry County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.6% (3,683 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (17 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,053
#10. Darke County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.0% (7,014 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (75 homes)
- Total homes built: 22,643
#9. Lucas County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.0% (48,174 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (1,050 homes)
- Total homes built: 200,764
#8. Ashtabula County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.3% (14,048 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (140 homes)
- Total homes built: 46,362
#7. Wyandot County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.3% (3,196 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (2 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,885
#6. Sandusky County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.2% (7,741 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (25 homes)
- Total homes built: 26,475
#5. Van Wert County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.0% (3,892 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (74 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,574
#4. Jefferson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 23.8% (7,392 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (69 homes)
- Total homes built: 31,118
#3. Crawford County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.1% (6,378 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (90 homes)
- Total homes built: 19,844
#2. Seneca County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.7% (8,792 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (65 homes)
- Total homes built: 23,968
#1. Cuyahoga County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.2% (173,565 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (2,165 homes)
- Total homes built: 615,513