Demographics of Cleveland

[1] Due to various historical factors including deindustrialization, suburbanization, and urban sprawl, Cleveland's population began decreasing in the 1960s.

[2] During the day, incoming commuters from other parts of Cuyahoga County and Metropolitan Cleveland increase the city's population by 30%.

Of the city's population over the age of 25, 17.5% held a bachelor's degree or higher, and 80.8% had a high school diploma or equivalent.

[12] The East–West racial divide is a legacy of redlining and blockbusting on Cleveland's East Side,[13] and before the 1950s, such a division did not exist, as the poet Langston Hughes observed.

[16] The demographic distribution has largely remained stable since the 1970s, although there have been significant shifts in the composition of certain neighborhoods, notably Collinwood and Broadway–Slavic Village.

[5] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Cleveland saw a massive influx of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian, and Ottoman empires, most of whom were attracted by manufacturing jobs.

Within Cleveland, the neighborhoods with the highest foreign-born populations are Asiatown/Goodrich–Kirtland Park (32.7%), Clark–Fulton (26.7%), West Boulevard (18.5%), Brooklyn Centre (17.3%), Downtown (17.2%), University Circle (15.9%, with 20% in Little Italy), and Jefferson (14.3%).

[24][25][26] On the West Side, the streetcar suburb of Lakewood also has a significant foreign-born population and has been recognized locally as a hotspot for immigrants.

[27] The non-Hispanic white population is mostly concentrated on Cleveland's West Side, Downtown, and University Circle, and comprises 32.1% according to the 2020 census.

Among them are Irish (especially in Kamm's Corners and other areas of West Park), Italians (especially in Little Italy and around Mayfield Road), Germans, and several Central-Eastern European ethnicities, including Czechs, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Rusyns, Slovaks, Ukrainians, and ex-Yugoslav groups, such as Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs.

[5] Black American communities have a long history in the city and grew significantly from 1910 to 1970 as a result of the First and Second Great Migrations.

[41] According to the 2020 census, the city's Hispanic and Latino communities form 13.1% of the population and have seen dramatic growth in recent decades.

"[5] The vast majority of Hispanics in Cleveland are of Puerto Rican descent, but there are also smaller numbers of immigrants from Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, South and Central America, and Spain.