Osage County, Kansas

Osage County (standard abbreviation: OS) is a located in east-central, in the central. The population was estimated to be 17,150 in the year 2005. Its is, and its most populous city is. The county along with, , , and counties is included in the  , with an estimated population of 226,268 in the year 2003.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,863 (719 ), of which 1,822 km² (704 sq mi) is land and 41 km² (16 sq mi), or 2.19%, is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
Osage County's population was estimated to be 17,150 in the year 2005, an increase of 383, or +2.3%, over the previous five years.

As of the, there were 16,712 people, 6,490 households, and 4,737 families residing in the county. The was 9/km² (24/sq mi). There were 7,018 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/sq mi). The makeup of the county was 97.27%, 0.22%  or , 0.65%  or , 0.17% , 0.10% , 0.41% from other races, and 1.18% from. or of any race were 1.53% of the population.

There were 6,490 households out of which 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.00% were living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.00% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.00% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males.

The in the county was $37,928, and the median income for a family was $44,581. Males had a median income of $30,670 versus $22,981 for females. The for the county was $17,691. About 6.40% of families and 8.40% of the population were below the, including 8.40% of those under age 18 and 10.40% of those age 65 or over.

Incorporated cities
Name and population (2005 estimate):
 * , 2,987
 * , 1,451
 * , 1,043 (county seat)
 * , 1,041
 * , 971
 * , 712
 * , 455
 * , 430
 * , 65

Townships
Osage County is divided into sixteen. The city of is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

Unified school districts

 * Osage City USD 420 (Web site)
 * Lyndon USD 421 (Web site)
 * Santa Fe Trail USD 434 (Web site)
 * Burlingame USD 454 (Web site)
 * Marais des Cygnes Valley USD 456 (Web site)

Media
Osage County is served by a weekly newspaper, The Osage County Herald-Chronicle (Web site). The newspaper has a circulation of approximately 4,500, making it the 3rd largest paid weekly publication in the state of Kansas.

The Herald-Chronicle was created by the merger of The Osage County Herald and The Osage County Chronicle in February of 2007.