Ohio's population of children under 5 was 740,300 in 2003, a 2 percent drop from 2000, the data showed. At the same time, Ohio lost 79,011 people aged 20-44, a drop of nearly 20 percent.

"When you've got your younger population even through the mid-40s moving someplace else, who's left having these kids 0 to 4?" said Rosemary Gliem, director of Ohio State University's Extension Data Center.

By contrast, the number of Ohioans - aged 80 to 84 - increased to an estimated 234,043 in 2003, up 8 percent from 2000.

Overall, Ohio grew to 11,435,798 people in 2003, a 0.06 percent increase.

The state's minimal growth worries business and political leaders concerned about the loss of young people - and the earning potential they take with them - to other states. Gov. Bob Taft's $1.6 billion Third Frontier proposal, with its emphasis on pushing high-tech research, was largely aimed at trying to stem this tide.

Hamilton, Lucas, Mahoning and Summit counties were among populous counties that saw a decrease in the number of youngest Ohioans during that time. The number of children ages 4 or younger in Cuyahoga dropped the most of big counties - 2,355, or 2.6 percent.

Counties already recognized for booming populations - including Butler and Warren counties in Southwest Ohio - were among those with an increase in the 0-to-4 age group.

In the suburban neighborhoods of Delaware County in central Ohio, young children are everywhere, said Bret Crow, who moved to a new house in 1999 in the rapidly growing county. His daughter Faith was born in 2000; his son David last fall.

"There's a heck of a lot of babies on our street," said Crow, 35, an assistant communications director for the state Board of Regents. "Faith can pick any number of kids her age, a little older or a little younger, to play with."

The data underscore the fact that Ohio's population is more or less static.