Gem County, Idaho

Gem County is a located in the  of. As of the 2000 Census the county had a population of 15,181 ( estimate: 16,273). The is.

Gem County is home to the.

Gem County is part of the.

History
Established, and named for the state nickname, "Gem State." were in the area as early as and  explored  in. and moved through the county in  in route to the  in the, and by the next year  began along the.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,465 (566 ). 1,457 km² (563 sq mi) of it is land and 8 km² (3 sq mi) of it (0.56%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 15,181 people, 5,539 households, and 4,176 families residing in the county. The was 10/km² (27/sq mi). There were 5,888 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.79%, 0.73% , 0.36% , 0.07% or , 0.06% , 3.16% from , and 1.83% from two or more races. 6.92% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 5,539 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.40% were living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.60% were non-families. 20.80% 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 2.70 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,460, and the median income for a family was $40,195. Males had a median income of $31,036 versus $20,755 for females. The for the county was $15,340. About 11.60% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the, including 15.60% of those under age 18 and 13.90% of those age 65 or over.