Decatur County, Iowa

Decatur County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 8,689. Its is. This county is named for, a hero in the.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,381 (533 ). 1,377 km² (532 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.29%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-35.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 69.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Iowa 2.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 8,689 people, 3,337 households, and 2,149 families residing in the county. The was 6/km² (16/sq mi). There were 3,833 housing units at an average density of 3/km² (7/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 96.46%, 0.98% or , 0.24% , 0.63% , 0.12% , 0.46% from , and 1.12% from two or more races. 1.70% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 3,337 households out of which 28.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 30.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18, 16.30% from 18 to 24, 21.60% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,343, and the median income for a family was $34,831. Males had a median income of $25,569 versus $19,309 for females. The for the county was $14,209. About 10.90% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the, including 15.60% of those under age 18 and 13.70% of those age 65 or over.

Decatur County is considered to be the poorest in Iowa, reporting that almost 20% of its residents live in poverty.