III.

Population

According to the national census, the population of Cleveland was 505,616 in 1990, a decline of 11.9 percent from the 1980 population of 573,822. The decrease continued into the 1990s, falling a further 5.4 percent between 1990 and 2000. The population was 478,403 in 2000. By 2005, Cleveland's population was estimated at 452,208. The decrease was attributed to a continuing flight to the suburbs, begun before 1970 and fueled by racial polarization and public school problems.

In 2000 blacks were 51 percent of the population, whites 41.5 percent, Asians 1.3 percent, Native Americans 0.3 percent, and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race 5.8 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 178 at the time of the census. Hispanics, who may be of any race, were 7.3 percent of the people.

The city of Cleveland has long been stereotyped as a community of two halves: a black eastern half and a white western half. Although a gross over-simplification, this perception has been widely accepted and has governed many community attitudes and actions. In reality, the city of Cleveland and much of the larger metropolitan area consists of distinct ethnic neighborhoods or communities. In large part this is a heritage of the employment opportunities available to blacks from the southern United States, whites from the Appalachian hill country, and immigrants from eastern and southern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The population of the metropolitan area in 1980 was 2,278,000, but by 1990 it totaled 2,202,000, or a decrease of 3.3 percent. The trend reversed in the 1990s. In 2005 the population was 2,126,000. Accurately characterizing the population of the metropolitan area is difficult because the fastest growing regions in 1990 actually were outside the officially designated area. For example, northern Summit County, while in Cleveland’s economic and cultural orbit, is counted as part of the Akron metropolitan area.