Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about 65 miles southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio University, a large public research university with an undergraduate and graduate enrollment of more than 21,000 students. It is the principal city of the Athens micropolitan area.