Jennings County, Indiana

Jennings County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 27,554. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 980 (378 ). 977 km² (377 sq mi) of it is land and 3 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.30%) is water. It is a very rural county, with majority of the county consisting of personal farms and woodlands. There are only two incorporated towns in this county, Vernon, the county seat, and North Vernon. Both are quite small and underdeveloped by urban standards; many locals prefer to do their shopping in neighboring counties. The county is conveniently located in the center of an imaginary triangle consisting of Indianapolis, IN, Cincinnati,OH, and Louisville, KY and requires only 1 1/2 hour drive time to any of these urban centers.

It is also home to the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, located just outside North Vernon, at which various training exercises and scenarios are conducted for homeland security and other similar purposes.

Adjacent counties

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

History
Jennings County was formed in 1817. It was named for the first, , elected in 1816.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 27,554 people, 10,134 households, and 7,600 families residing in the county. The was 28/km² (73/sq mi). There were 11,469 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (30/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.45%, 0.75% or , 0.21% , 0.26% , 0.21% from , and 1.11% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were or  of any race. 32.1% were of, 24.7% , 10.9% and 10.0%  ancestry according to.

There were 10,134 households out of which 36.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.70% were living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.00% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.70% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,402, and the median income for a family was $42,519. Males had a median income of $30,377 versus $21,023 for females. The for the county was $17,059. About 6.00% of families and 9.20% of the population were below the, including 10.00% of those under age 18 and 11.80% of those age 65 or over.