Mitchell County, North Carolina

Mitchell County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 15,687. Its is. Mitchell County is one of the four counties in North Carolina, along with, , and.

History
The county was formed in from parts of, , , , and. It was named for, professor of , , , and at the  from  until his death in. Dr. Mitchell was the first scientist to argue that a nearby peak in the was the highest point east of the Mississippi River. He measured the mountain's height and climbed and explored it. In 1857 he fell to his death on a waterfall on the side of the mountain. The mountain was subsequently named in his honor.

Law and government
Mitchell County is a member of the regional.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 575 (222 ). 574 km² (221 sq mi) of it is land and 2 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.32%) is water.

Townships
The county is divided into ten : Bakersville, Bradshaw, Cane Creek, Little Switzerland, Fork Mountain-Little Rock Creek (previously two separate townships), Grassy Creek, Harrell, Poplar, Red Hill, Snow Creek, and.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north-northeast
 * - northeast
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - north-northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 15,687 people, 6,551 households, and 4,736 families residing in the county. The was 27/km² (71/sq mi). There were 7,919 housing units at an average density of 14/km² (36/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.87%, 0.22% or , 0.45% , 0.20% , 0.66% from , and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.98% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,551 households out of which 27.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.20% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 18.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,508, and the median income for a family was $36,367. Males had a median income of $26,550 versus $20,905 for females. The for the county was $15,933. About 10.70% of families and 13.80% of the population were below the, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 16.40% of those age 65 or over.