The state gave them a choice of digging it themselves for pay or having the state pay others to dig the canal. The Zoarites then spent several years in the 1820s digging the canal and thus were able to pay off their loans on time with much money to spare. Bimeler's death on August 31, 1853 led to a slow decline in the cohesion of the village. By 1898, the village voted to disband the communal society and the property was divided among the remaining residents. Zoar is located at (40.613102, -81.421686), along the Tuscarawas River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Zoar is located at Mile Post 84.5 on the main line of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway between Cleveland and Wheeling, West Virginia, which parallels the Tuscarawas River for much of its length. As of the census of 2010, there were 169 people, 77 households, and 58 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 85 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.2% White, 0.6% Asian, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.6% of the population. There were 77 households, of which 19.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 24.7% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.50. The median age in the village was 52.6 years. 10.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 14.8% were from 25 to 44; 42.6% were from 45 to 64; and 26% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 52.1% male and 47.9% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 193 people, 79 households, and 62 families residing in the village.