Ray County, Missouri

Ray County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 23,354. Its is. The county was organized in and named for, Missouri state legislator.

Ray County is part of the

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,486 (574 ). 1,475 km² (569 mi²) of it is land and 11 km² (4 mi²) of it (0.72%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 23,354 people, 8,743 households, and 6,539 families residing in the county. The was 16/km² (41/mi²). There were 9,371 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (16/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.50%, 1.46% or , 0.36% , 0.19% , 0.36% from , and 1.13% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were or  of any race. 29.6% were of, 23.3% , 11.5% and 10.3%  ancestry according to.

There were 8,743 households out of which 35.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.20% were non-families. 22.10% 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 2.63 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.50% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,886, and the median income for a family was $49,192. Males had a median income of $36,815 versus $21,684 for females. The for the county was $18,685. About 5.30% of families and 6.80% of the population were below the, including 8.00% of those under age 18 and 7.80% of those age 65 or over.