McDowell County, North Carolina

McDowell County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 42,151. Its is.

History
The county was formed in from parts of  and. It was named for, a hero of the , and a member of the from  to.

In, parts of McDowell County, Burke County, , , and were combined to form.

Law and government
McDowell County is a member of the regional council of governments.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,156 (446 ). 1,144 km² (442 sq mi) of it is land and 12 km² (5 sq mi) of it (1.06%) is water.

The crosses the county and empties into. Almost half of the county is located inside the. is located in the far northern part of the county.

The follows the northwestern boundary of the county.

Townships
The county is divided into eleven : Crooked Creek, Dysartsville, Glenwood, Marion, Montford Cove, Nebo, Ashford-North Cove, Pleasant Gardens, Woodlawn-Sevier, Sugar Hill, and Old Fort.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - north-northeast
 * - east
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 42,151 people, 16,604 households, and 11,954 families residing in the county. The was 37/km² (95/sq mi). There were 18,377 housing units at an average density of 16/km² (42/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.18%, 4.16% or , 0.29% , 0.92% , 0.01% , 1.61% from , and 0.84% from two or more races. 2.88% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 16,604 households out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.50% were living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.80% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 24.90% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,396, and the median income for a family was $37,789. Males had a median income of $26,609 versus $21,640 for females. The for the county was $16,109. About 9.00% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
Nebo