Starke County, Indiana

Starke County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 23,556. The is.

It is the poorest county per capita outside of the southeast of the state.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 809 (312 ). 801 km² (309 sq mi) of it is land and 8 km² (3 sq mi) of it (0.96%) is water. The northwestern boundary of Starke County is defined by the ; the, a tributary of the Kankakee, flows through the central part of the county, past Knox.

Adjacent counties

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

History
Starke County was formed in 1850. It was named for Gen., who commanded troops at the  in 1775 in the  and defeated the British at the  in 1777.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 23,556 people, 8,740 households, and 6,450 families residing in the county. The was 29/km² (76/sq mi). There were 10,201 housing units at an average density of 13/km² (33/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.52%, 0.22% or , 0.24% , 0.20% , 0.03% , 0.74% from , and 1.05% from two or more races. 2.18% of the population were or  of any race. 25.2% were of, 17.5% , 11.0% , 8.2% and 6.4%  ancestry according to.

There were 8,740 households out of which 33.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.40% were living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.20% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,243, and the median income for a family was $42,355. Males had a median income of $32,779 versus $21,071 for females. The for the county was $16,466. About 8.80% of families and 11.10% of the population were below the, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 10.10% of those age 65 or over.