[6] The Ohio General Assembly redrew the sixth district following the results of the 1980 United States census.

[7] Beginning with the 100th Congress in 1987, adjustments were made by the legislature to the boundaries; reapportionment between censuses is unusual in American politics.

One of the major industries was the United States Department of Energy's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon, which manufactured uranium for nuclear weapons.

At the same time, it effectively ended the career of James Traficant in the neighboring 17th District by placing his hometown of Poland into the 6th.

Following the 2010 United States census, the bounds of the sixth district were changed again as Ohio lost two seats in Congress.

[10] In recent years and like much of coal country, the district has swung decidedly toward the Republican Party at local, state and national levels.