Shelby County, Tennessee

Shelby County is a located in the  of. The county is the state's largest in terms of both population and geographic area. Its is.

Shelby County is part of the, which covers eight counties in three states - Tennessee, , and.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,030 (784 ). 1,954 km² (755 sq mi) of it is land and 75 km² (29 sq mi) of it (3.71%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 897,472 people, 338,366 households, and 228,735 families residing in the county. The was 459/km² (1,189/sq mi). There were 362,954 housing units at an average density of 186/km² (481/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 47.34%, 48.56% or , 0.20% , 1.64% , 0.04% , 1.20% from , and 1.02% from two or more races. 2.60% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 338,366 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.80% were living together, 20.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,593, and the median income for a family was $47,386. Males had a median income of $36,932 versus $26,776 for females. The for the county was $20,856. About 12.90% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the, including 22.90% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

By 2005 Sheby County had a population that was 51.3% African-American, 42.5% non-Hispanic white, 3.4% Latino and 2% Asian.

Shelby County Courthouse
Shelby County Courthouse, located in Memphis on Adams Avenue between North 2nd and North 3rd Streets,  was designed by  and completed in. This pile features a long portico topped by a cornice supported by massive s.  The ambitious   program executed by  includes the pediment groups, ,, ,  and . Female allegorical figures can be found on the north facade cornice representing Integrity, Courage, Mercy, Temperance, Prudence and Learning. Flanking the main entrances are over life sized seated figures embodying Wisdom, Justice, Liberty, Authority, Peace and Prosperity.

Education
Almost all areas in Shelby County that are outside of the city of Memphis are zoned to schools operated by.

Schools in Memphis are operated by.

Some portions of unincorporated Shelby County are zoned to MCS schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Some portions of unincorporated Shelby County are zoned to SCS for elementary and middle school and MCS schools for high school.