Raleigh County, West Virginia

Raleigh County is a county located in the state of West Virginia in the United States. The administrative headquarters ( County Seat) is Beckley.

Geography

The County is located in south-central West Virginia and has an area of ​​1578 square kilometers, of which six square kilometers of water surface. It is bordered clockwise to the following counties: Kanawha County, Fayette County, Summers County, Mercer County, Wyoming County and Boone County.

History

Raleigh County was formed on January 23, 1850 from parts of Fayette County. It was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, an English navigator, explorer and writer and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I.

Demographic data

1900-1990

According to the census in 2000 lived in Raleigh County 79,220 people in 31,793 households and 22,096 families. The population density was 50 people per square kilometer. The racial the population was made ​​up of 89.63 percent White, 8.52 percent African American, 0.19 percent Native American, 0.72 percent Asian, 0.02 percent of residents from the Pacific Islander, and 0.12 percent from other races groups; 0.80 percent were descended from two or more races. 0.92 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 31 & .793 households had 28.6 percent have children under the age of 18 living with them. 54.3 percent were married couples living together, 11.9 percent were single mothers, 30.5 percent were non-families, 27.1 percent of all households and 12.9 percent lived in people aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.88.

Based on the county the population was spread from 21.5 percent population under 18 years, 8.7 percent between 18 and 24 years, 28.6 percent between 25 and 44 years, 25.7 percent between 45 and 64 years and 15.4 percent were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 men statistically.

The median income for a household was $ 28,181, and the median income for a family was $ 35,315. Males have a median income of $ 33,000, women $ 20,672. The per capita income was $ 16,233. 14.6 percent of families and 18.5 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. Of these, 28.7 percent were children or adolescents under age 18 and 10.5 percent of those 65 years.