As the total population in Yellow Springs dropped to 3,487 residents over the last 40 years, its share of people of color fell as a percentage of its population.
UPDATE: Census shows rising age, declining diversity
- Published: May 26, 2011
Updated June 3, 2011
Yellow Springs has become a much less racially-diverse community with 40 percent fewer people of color than in 1970, according to the latest 2010 U.S. Census data released. The largest losses have been from the village’s African-American community, which shrunk by two-thirds since 1970, far faster than the total resident drop in the community, which fell by about one-quarter over the same period.
Yellow Springs, which once more than twice the people of color as the nation and three times that of the state, now has a non-white population of 21.9 percent. That rate more closely matches the rest of Ohio and is far below the national average.
In 2010 African Americans accounted for just 12 percent of the population, down from 26.2 percent in 1970. And over the same time period, white residents have steadily increased to 78.1 percent of the population, higher than the national average. But in the last 10 years, multi-racial residents have grown to a much larger share of population and percentage-wise the village still counts more people of color than Ohio and Greene County.
See the June 2 edition of the News for the fully story.
Median age rising in Yellow Springs
The rise in median age in Yellow Springs outpaced the rest of Ohio over the last 40 years. It reached 48.5 years in 2010, more than twice the village’s median age of 22.7 in 1970.
Yellow Springs is aging more rapidly than anytime in at least the last 40 years, as its median age rose more than seven years in the last decade alone, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures.
The village’s median age rose to 48.5 years in 2010, more than double its median age of 22.7 in 1970. Yellow Springs now has the highest median age in the Dayton area. Yellow Springs is aging faster than the rest of the state and the nation as well. Yellow Springs’ median age is now nearly 10 years higher than the rest of Ohio.
Meanwhile the number of village youth remained steady over the last decade while the largest population losses were seen in its college-age population and among the middle aged.
See the May 26 edition of the YS News for the full story.
The number of villagers younger than 45 years old has shrunk by nearly half over the last 30 years while those 45 and older has almost doubled.
As the total village population fell from 4,077 in 1980 to 3,487 in 2010 its demographics shifted dramatically. Gains were made in all age cohorts 45 and over while age groups under 45 all had losses. The largest increase has been among those 45 to 59 while the largest decrease was in the 15 to 24 age cohort.
See also New Census data shows areas of growth decline and Census results show declining population and diversity
6 Responses to “UPDATE: Census shows rising age, declining diversity”
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I lived in Yellow Springs my entire life. My father grew up, lived and died in YS. Our family used to have deep roots there. I moved away 6 years ago to experience a different place, but I always thought that I would move back at some point. I considered moving home last year, but the high cost of buying a house in YS really turned me off and I don’t want to live anywhere else in Ohio. I decided to stay in Florida when I found a 4/2 house for $123,000 with a great yard and in good condition. That wasn’t possible in Yellow Springs. Younger families are leaving town because they want to buy and the houses are more affordable in Beavercreek, Xenia and Springfield.
The housing prices are RIDICULOUS! We had to refinance our home and we couldn’t afford to sell it now if we HAD to…and the quality of the offerings are not good either. What qualifies for a bedroom here in YS doesn’t always fit more than a twin bed. Add to that the HIGH cost of taxes and utilities here, how can ANY young folks afford to live here unless they have a 3 figure salary? Get real, people, the village is going to die unless we stop getting greedy about rent and realty prices…
I have lived in YS since 1986, when my family and I moved here as my Dad worked at Antioch College. We have deep roots here: Dad is a founding faculty member of AUM; our family owned the Little Art for 10 years; Mom worked at AUM for 10 years as well. I graduated from the High School in 1994; and, after a few years of being away, I moved back and finished my degree at Antioch University. But when it came time to buy a house, I could not afford to purchase here. I went to Clifton. I sold that house after five years and moved to LA for a year, returned, and could not afford to buy again. I rented–and paid nearly $1200/month in rent, without utilities, for a house. Finally, I moved back in with my family, and we are adding on to our existing home. My fiancee is moving in with us. That is the only way that I can “afford” a home.
I am highly educated and steadily employed, as are most of my long-time friends, but many in my generation cannot afford to own a home here. We seriously have to do something about housing prices if we want to sustain the village. More and more young adults who grew up here are forced to leave because they don’t want to pay so much rent for outdated apartments, and they most certainly cannot afford to purchase a house.
While Antioch is a factor, the avg age in Yellow Springs is significantly older than the state of Ohio. This is reflective of other factors beyond Antioch effecting the village. Housing cost is also factor and the often overlooked factor of housing variety (family friendly condos and apartments). Virtually all of the apartments in the village are over 35 years old, are 2 bedrooms or less, and provide no safe play area. Many local young people are therefore forced to move to apartments in Fairborn or Xenia when they start thier families.
Actually it seems that most of the loss, percentage-wise, is in the 15-24 bracket, which can surely be mostly explained through the decline of Antioch. Of course the next age group up suffers from that loss as well. There are more than a few Antioch grads who stuck around and still live in the village. That can’t happen if you’re not graduating people from Antioch. So as the college goes, I posit, so will go the population trends in the Village.
Looking at the graph, Yellow Springs by Age, you can EASILY see why the Schools are struggling. We need badly families to move into the village, but costs and overpriced homes are not welcoming to them. If you look at the other areas around, it’s much more affordable to live elsewhere. Yes, we have some special things to offer, BUT when you have a family finances often have to come first. If your housing costs are less (or you get more for your money), then you can offer your children other things. Right now our schools are not offering as much as they used to either….