Why Huron?
What makes the City of Huron such a great place to live, work and do business? We're a growing community made of vibrant residents, engaged businesses and a thriving tourism industry. Read below for specific information and local demographics.
Huron is a community of over 9,300 residents. 7,067 of them live within the City of Huron. Throughout the years, Huron has grown but manages to maintain its small-town, friendly atmosphere. The wonderful living conditions are enjoyed by residents of the area. The City of Huron has a stable popuation that has remained around 7,200 since the 2000 census. The 2021 projected population is 7,129.
Data source: The Nielsen Company
The City of Huron has a large workforce, the majority of which are established workers. Huron has an aging population, following the aging trend in Erie County. Many Huron residents are well established in their career fields and generally have more disposable income than communities with younger age cohorts.
Data source: The Nielsen Company
As depicted in the table above, Huron has a higher employment percentage than all other comparison categories (Erie County, Ohio, and United States). With 4.4% unemployment most of the current labor force in Huron is finding work and participating in the labor force at a higher rate.
Additionally, Huron outpaces all comparisons in the middle income categories ($50,000 to $124,999). These middle and upper middle wages show an encouraging demographic for the community, since these income levels seem to be higher than the rest of Ohio and the United States. The average household income in Huron for 2016 was $66,323.
A strong majority of the City’s housing stock is valued between $100,000 and $299,999. This represents a larger market share than both other local jurisdictions, the State, and the national average.
Pictured: Huron Boat Basin and Amphitheater
Huron has been a vacation destination since the late 19th century. As a resort spot, it offers an abundance of recreational opportunities, including fishing, boating, birding, sandy beaches, and miles of recreational trails. Even as its popularity as a summer getaway is growing, Huron is increasingly becoming a sought-after place to live year-round.
Full-time residents praise Huron's quality of life, close-knit atmosphere, and excellent schools, as well as many projects constructed for the benefit of the community. For example, the Huron Boat Basin and Amphitheater, the focal point of the downtown, is constantly touted as one of the best public venues in the area. Lake Erie Living has donned it the best live music venue in the region 2 out of the last 3 years. The Park has both a public marina and a 1,000 seat amphitheater, which hosts concerts, events, and movies throughout the summer. The space is home to most community events and festivals. Serving as a popular community park and gathering place, the basin and 1,000-seat amphitheater host Boppin' on the Basin concerts throughout the summer, along with movie nights and a full slate of food and arts festivals.
Just west of town, the multi-million dollar Cedar Point Amusement Park draws nearly 3 million visitors a year to enjoy its many features. Sawmill Creek, a 240-room lodge, specializes providing a space for business meetings and conferences. Additionally, Sawmill provides a full range of meeting facilities and a wide selection of on-site recreation options.
The Huron area has excellent medical facilities, both for inpatient and outpatient medical services. Firelands Regional Medical Center offers full, state-of-the-art medical services. Physicians from all fields practice at the hospital. Admiral’s Pointe, a 100-bed licensed/certified long-term nursing facility, provides healthcare services to Huron and surrounding localities. Because of its proximity to Cleveland and Toledo, the Huron area has well-established referral patterns to the major tertiary medical centers. The city and township are served by an excellent team of full-time EMTs who are fully trained in basic and advanced life support. The squad has always received financial support through the community. Should the need arise, life flight helicopters have the ability to transport to a major center in Cleveland and Toledo.
Pictured: BGSU Firelands Campus, located in the City of Huron
Huron’s education system is one of the finest in the state, sustained by an effective Board of Education, involved parents and supportive businesses. The public schools enjoy an average pupil/teacher ratio of 14:1, with 82 percent of the high school students pursuing higher education after graduation. Huron High School students consistently score above both the state and national averages on the SAT and ACT exams. Huron’s parochial and Montessori schools serve students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Four nursery schools, two of which are private, operate in Huron as well. EHOVE Career Center, just five miles south of Huron, offers engaging career tech and academic courses to high school and adult ed students by incorporating real world experiences and the latest technology. Students have an opportunity to earn industry credentials and college credits to prepare them for transition to a post-secondary program, or for entry into an in-demand, high level, technical job. EHOVE also provides customized training programs to local business and industry to meet the diverse needs of all levels of an organization from pre-employment assessments and post-employment technical training to leadership development and more.
On the west side of Huron is the 216-acre campus of Bowling Green State University. BGSU Firelands offers area students an opportunity to obtain much or all of their college education near home. In addition, BGSU Firelands offers a variety of visual and performing arts programs, plus a comprehensive curriculum of non-credit, lifelong learning courses like: computer training, supervisory skills, customized workforce training, professional development and personal enrichment classes. Credit offerings at BGSU Firelands include associate, baccalaureate and master degree programs.
The Cedar Point Center is wired for high speed data, video and voice communications. The Cedar Point Center has a multi-gigabyte connection to the other buildings at BGSU Firelands, as well as a high-speed connection to both the BGSU main campus and the Internet. These connections enable the offering of distance learning courses, so students at BGSU Firelands can join in on events from BGSU’s main campus. The Cedar Point Center also has an 802.11G wireless network allowing the flexibility to use a computer anywhere in the building. The college library, which is open to the public, is electronically linked to the university’s computer network of statewide and global information resources.
The James H. McBride Arboretum, located on campus, provides the community a 47-acre preserve of ponds, trees, gardens and walking paths. The Arboretum includes the Deering Family Terrace, an instructional terrace that overlooks Parker Lake.
BGSU Firelands: located in Huron.
Oberlin College: in Oberlin, 30 miles.
Baldwin Wallace: in Berea, 40 miles.
Cleveland State University: in Cleveland, 50 miles.
Case Western Reserve University: in Cleveland, 50 miles.
Ashland University: in Ashland, 50 miles.
Ohio State University, Mansfield: in Mansfield, 50 miles.
Bowling Green State University, Main Campus: in Bowling Green, 60 miles.
Heidelberg College: in Tiffin, 50 miles.
Toledo University: in Toledo, 70 miles.
Ohio State University, Main Campus: in Columbus, 112 miles.
Terra Community College: in Fremont, 40 miles.
Owens Community College: in Findlay, 80 miles.
Located on the south shore of Lake Erie, Huron lies midway between Cleveland and Toledo on State Route 6 and State Route 2 in the heart of Ohio’s Lake Erie vacationland. The City of Huron is quickly becoming one of the premier tourist destinations in Northeast Ohio.
2016 statistics and 2017 forecasts show that more people are taking advantage of destinations that are closer to home.
- 10 million trips are made to Lake Erie each year
- 3.5 million people go to Cedar Point every year
- Huron is located 30 miles from Kelleys Island
- Put in Bay, a highly popular tourist destination, is one hour from Huron
- The Erie County tourism industry was $1.6 billion in 2015
- Lake Erie is a year-round destination
- 88% of visitors said they are likely to return
More money, more people and more tourism is coming to Northeast Ohio, and Huron is at the heart of that growth. For information on available sites, click here. For more information about tourism in the area, click here.
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