Bedford County, Tennessee

Bedford County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 37,586. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 42,204. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,230 (475 ). 1,227 km² (474 sq mi) of it is land and 3 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.25%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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

History
The county was created in when the citizens of  living south of the  and the  successfully petitioned the governor to split Rutherford County into two. The new county was named after officer, who was a large landowner in the area. Once the state's largest and most populous county, Bedford County was progressively reduced in size since.

general was born in  (now in ) in.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 37,586 people, 13,905 households, and 10,345 families residing in the county. The was 31/km² (79/sq mi). There were 14,990 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (32/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 86.84%, 8.48% or , 0.28% , 0.45% , 0.05% , 2.73% from , and 1.16% from two or more races. 7.48% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 13,905 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.60% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,729, and the median income for a family was $40,691. Males had a median income of $28,485 versus $20,673 for females. The for the county was $16,698. About 9.70% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 17.80% of those age 65 or over.