Polk County, Tennessee

Polk County is a located in the  of. The county had a of 16,050 in 2000. Its is.

It is included in the.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,146 (442 ). 1,127 km² (435 sq mi) of it is land and 19 km² (7 sq mi) of it is. The total area is 1.65% water.

Much of the terrain of eastern Polk County is mountainous, including, constituting part of the southern. Large tracts of Polk County are part of the. The, site of events in the Atlanta , runs through Polk County and is vital to one of the county's major industries,. The calmer Hiwassee River, a tributary of the Tennessee River which flows through northern Polk County, is also used for rafting and tubing.

Adjacent Counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 16,050 people, 6,448 households, and 4,752 families residing in the county. The was 14/km² (37/sq mi). There were 7,369 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (17/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.35%, 0.14% or , 0.27% , 0.12% , 0.02% , 0.09% from , and 1.01% from two or more races. 0.73% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,448 households out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.30% were living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.60% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 26.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,643, and the median income for a family was $36,370. Males had a median income of $27,703 versus $21,010 for females. The for the county was $16,025. About 9.70% of families and 13.00% of the population were below the, including 13.80% of those under age 18 and 18.40% of those age 65 or over.