Somerset County, Maryland

Somerset County is the southernmost in the  of, located on the state's. It was named for, the wife of and daughter of. She was the sister of, née Anne Arundell, the wife of , who lent her name to. The is. As of 2000, the population was 24,747.

History
Somerset County was created in by an Order in Council. In  was created from Somerset County. In portions of Somerset and Worcester Counties were taken to create.

Law and government
Somerset County is governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland. Commissioners are elected to four-year terms; all commissioners' terms will expire in 2010.

Current Somerset county commissioners:

Boston is the President of the County Commission; Ring is the Vice President.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,582 (611 ). 847 km² (327 sq mi) of it is land and 736 km² (284 sq mi) of it (46.4%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (south)
 * (north)
 * (east)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 24,747 people, 8,361 households, and 5,444 families residing in the county. The was 29/km² (76/sq mi). There were 10,055 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (31/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 56.4%, 41.1% or , 0.4% , 0.5% , 0% , 0.5% from , and 1.2% from two or more races. 1.3% of the population were or  of any race. 17.4% were of, 15.4% , 7.3% and 5.4%  ancestry according to.

There were 8,361 households out of which 38.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% 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 2.92.

In the county the population was spread out with 18.5% under the age of 18, 15.7% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.5 years. For every 100 females there were 114.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.1 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,903, and the median income for a family was $37,643. Males had a median income of $27,496 versus $23,035 for females. The for the county was $15,965. About 15.0% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
This county contains the following incorporated municipalities:
 * 1 :
 * (incorporated )
 * 1 :
 * (incorporated )

Unincorporated areas are also considered as towns by many people and listed in many collections of towns, but they lack local government. Various organizations, such as the, the , and local chambers of commerce, define the communities they wish to recognize differently, and since they are not incorporated, their boundaries have no official status outside the organizations in question. The Census Bureau recognizes the following s in the county:


 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
 * 1) (a combination of the communities of  and  recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)

Other unincorporated places not listed as CDP's include: