The city of Akron is the county seat of Summit County in the U.S. State of Ohio. The city is located between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south. It is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 161.6 km² (62.4 mi²). 160.8 km² (62.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (0.54%) is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 217,074 people, 90,116 households, and 53,709 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,350.3/km² (3,497.3/mi²). There were 97,315 housing units at an average density of 605.3/km² (1,567.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.22% White, 28.48% African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population.