Preston County, West Virginia

Preston County is a located in the  of  and is part of the. It was formed from Monongalia County in 1818 and named for Virginia Governor. As of 2000, the population was 29,334. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,687 (651 ). 1,679 km² (648 sq mi) of it is land and 8 km² (3 sq mi) of it (0.47%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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

State Parks

 * (also a Registered )

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 29,334 people, 11,544 households, and 8,357 families residing in the county. The was 17/km² (45/sq mi). There were 13,444 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (21/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.84%, 0.29% or , 0.11% , 0.15% , 0.02% , 0.05% from , and 0.54% from two or more races. 0.57% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 11,544 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.40% were living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.70% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,927, and the median income for a family was $32,904. Males had a median income of $26,440 versus $17,905 for females. The for the county was $13,596. About 14.70% of families and 18.30% of the population were below the, including 24.40% of those under age 18 and 14.50% of those age 65 or over.

Preston County has the most rural roads in West Virginia.