Ritchie County, West Virginia

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

Geography

The County is located north of the geographical center of West Virginia, is located in the northwest about 30 miles from Ohio and has an area of 1175 square kilometers without significant water surface. It is bordered clockwise to the following counties: Pleasants County, Tyler County, Doddridge County, Gilmer County, Calhoun County, Wirt County and Wood County.

History

Ritchie County was formed on February 18, 1843 from parts of Harrison County, Lewis County and Wood County. It was named after Thomas Ritchie, an American journalist and politician.

Demographic data

1900-1990

According to the census in 2000 lived in Ritchie County 10,343 people in 4,184 households and 2,999 families. The population density was 9 people per square kilometer. The racial the population was made ​​up of 98.68 percent White, 0.14 percent African American, 0.27 percent Native American, 0.13 percent Asian, and 0.11 percent from other races; 0.69 percent were descended from two or more races. 0.47 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 4,184 households out of which 30.2 percent have children under the age of 18 living with them. 58.2 percent were married couples living together, 9.7 percent were single mothers, 28.3 percent were non-families, 25.0 percent of all households and 12.3 percent lived in people aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.91.

Based on the county the population was spread out 23.0 percent of residents under the age of 18, 7.7 percent between 18 and 24 years, 28.0 percent between 25 and 44 years, 26.1 percent between 45 and 64 years and 15.2 percent were 65 years old or older. The average age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 men statistically.

The median income for a household was $ 27,332, and the median income for a family was $ 34,809. Males have a median income of $ 28,147, women $ 18,149. The per capita income was $ 15,175. 14.3 percent of families and 19.1 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. Of these, 23.6 percent were children or adolescents under age 18 and 14.1 percent of those 65 years.

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