Carteret County, North Carolina

Carteret County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 59,383. Its is. Most of the county is part of the. The county was named for.

Law and government
Carteret County is a member of the regional.

A voting machine malfunction in the county resulted in the cast during early voting for the,  general election. Since the number of lost ballots exceeded the lead held (by over . in the statewide race for  commissioner, the State Board of Elections decided to hold a special election on, , open only to the 18,500 voters in the county who either failed to vote or whose votes were lost. Both candidates have filed legal challenges contesting the format of the new election. On , , Cobb conceded the race.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,472 (1,341 ). 1,346 km² (520 sq mi) of it is land and 2,126 km² (821 sq mi) of it (61.22%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * and (north)
 * (west-southwest)
 * (west-northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 59,383 people, 25,204 households, and 17,365 families residing in the county. The was 44/km² (114/sq mi). There were 40,947 housing units at an average density of 30/km² (79/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 90.28%, 6.99% or , 0.54% , 0.43% , 0.06% , 0.60% from , and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.74% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 25,204 households out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.00% were living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.70% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 27.20% from 25 to 44, 28.40% from 45 to 64, and 17.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,344, and the median income for a family was $45,499. Males had a median income of $31,365 versus $22,126 for females. The for the county was $21,260. About 8.00% of families and 10.70% of the population were below the, including 15.40% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Education
The county is served by.