Burke County, North Carolina

Burke County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 89,148. Its is. The symbol of Burke County is.

Burke County is part of the.

History
The county was formed in from. It was named for, a delegate to the  from  to  and  from  to. In parts of Burke County and  were combined to form. In parts of Burke County and Buncombe County were combined to form. In parts of Burke County and  were combined to form. In additional parts of Burke County and Rutherford County were combined to form. Finally, in parts of Burke County, Caldwell County, McDowell County,, and Yancey County were combined to form.

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

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,334 (515 ). 1,312 km² (507 sq mi) of it is land and 21 km² (8 sq mi) of it (1.59%) is water. The county contains portions of two lakes: along its western border with  and Lake Rhodhiss along its northeastern border with.

Townships
The county is divided into thirteen : Drexel, Icard, Jonas Ridge, Linville, Lovelady, Lower Creek, Lower Fork, Morganton, Quaker Meadows, Silver Creek, Smoky Creek, Upper Creek, Upper Fork and Valdese.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south-southeast
 * - south-southwest
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 89,148 people, 34,528 households, and 24,342 families residing in the county. The was 68/km² (176/sq mi). There were 37,427 housing units at an average density of 29/km² (74/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 86.01%, 6.71% or , 0.30% , 3.48% , 0.21% , 2.17% from , and 1.11% from two or more races. 3.57% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 34,528 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.90% were living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.00% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,629, and the median income for a family was $42,114. Males had a median income of $27,591 versus $21,993 for females. The for the county was $17,397. About 8.00% of families and 10.70% of the population were below the, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

 * , (1810-1900), Morganton politician
 * , (1896-1985), chairman of the
 * , (1816-1864), member of the from North Carolina
 * , (1963-), linebacker for
 * , (1913-2006), guitarist and singer
 * , retired golf pro