While attending Ohio University and living in off-campus housing, students are making a big mistake if they don’t make an effort to get to know some of the people who make Athens their home. Part of what makes OU such a great place to go to college is the surrounding community, a classic college town located smack in the middle of Appalachian America.
Athens by the Numbers
The population of Athens County, according to U.S. Census estimates from July 2019, is predominately white (89.7 percent), with Blacks or African Americans making up only 2.8 percent, Asian 3.1 percent, and Hispanic/Latino 1.9 percent. The total population of the county is 65,327 people. That includes most of the students who attend Ohio University.
The city of Athens, meanwhile, has an estimated population of 24,984, as of 2019, with a bit more diversity than the county at large, though nothing to brag about (82 percent white, 6 percent Asian, 5 percent Black and 3 percent Hispanic/Latino). That reflects the fact that Athens is a college town, with much of its total population attendees or faculty of Ohio University, or alumni of the same. The vast majority of OU-affiliated people came to Athens from other areas, with most (but not all) students leaving after their college years are over.
Students Dominate Athens’ Population
If anyone has any doubts about how college students dominate the population of Athens, age distribution numbers will remove them pronto. According to the Census estimates from 2019, the median age in the city of Athens was 21.4. The statewide median age in Ohio was nearly double that, at 39.4. A whopping 73 percent of the population fell between 10 and 29 years (with 44 percent between 20 and 29).
While the U.S. Census doesn’t separate the student population from the “townie” population, calculations in past years have concluded that Athens’ non-student population is probably between 5,000 and 7,000. The Athens NEWS ran a piece in 2009 that looked at the numbers and plausibly came to that conclusion.
For many years, Athens County has been statistically among the poorest counties in Ohio (and the United States at large). According to the 2019 Census estimates, the median annual household income (averaged from 2015-2019 was $40,905, and median per capita income was $22,040, with 26.6 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
For comparison, another Appalachian Ohio county, Washington County (county seat, Marietta), bordering Athens County to the northeast, had a median annual household income of $50,021 in the 2019 Census estimate, $28,782 per capita income, and 11 percent living below the poverty line.
The reason for Athens County’s extreme poverty, as outlined in past Census numbers? Part of that is a result of the Census counting a large percentage of Ohio University students, young people who have relatively low personal incomes while attending college. However, even with students factored out of the numbers, Athens County remains among the poorest counties in Ohio.
College Student Life in a Poor County
The numbers as explained in the aforementioned section mean that Athens County, while being remarkably homogeneous in terms of race, is incredibly diverse when it comes to class, more so than any other college town in Ohio. Thousands of Ohio University students, most of them from relatively prosperous families, attend college in a county where many children go to bed hungry every evening. Within a 10-minute drive of Athens, one can view scenes of grinding poverty from the car window.
Joe Burrow, who graduated from Athens High School before winning a college championship for LSU and then starting for the Cincinnati Bengals later in 2020, brought international attention to poverty in Athens County and southeast Ohio when he talked about childhood hunger in the area during his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech in December 2019. A wildly successful online fundraiser inspired by Burrow’s speech wound up earning nearly $700,000. In line with that, the Athens County Food Pantry, with help from the Foundation of Appalachia Ohio (FAO) created the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund, to continue those efforts.
Class Divide Brings Opportunity, Too
One wouldn’t think there’d be much to celebrate in regard to the vast chasm in class between relatively prosperous college-town Athens and the county at large. Yet in a weird sort of way, the cultural differences that come with gaps in income and background make this area all the more interesting and potentially rewarding for college students. Moving from, say, suburban Akron or Toledo to the hills of Appalachia can provide an immersion course in an unfamiliar and fascinating America, if students are open to the experience.
Of course, many OU students attend four years of college, first in the dorms, then in an Athens apartment or rental house, without ever stepping outside of their comfortable campus life. But they’re missing out on experiencing the people and culture of a unique part of America, with a colorful and vibrant history, even while occasionally enjoying the area’s beautiful scenery and outdoor opportunities.
The fact that so many OU students end up staying in Athens or Athens County after graduating, or returning here some years later, suggests that many students do open themselves to the culture and people of Appalachian Ohio. The area has a unique character that can’t be replicated in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Akron, Cleveland, Dayton or Toledo.
If you’re an OU student, consider opening yourself to this area while you’re here, including its people, culture, institutions and geography. You’ll find it incredibly rewarding.