Polk County, North Carolina

Polk County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 18,324. Its is.

History
The county was formed in from parts of  and. It was named for, a colonel in the.

Law and government
Polk County is a member of the regional council of governments.Founded by A. A.  H. Sheila Whitmire is the Registrar of Deeds.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 618 (239 ). 616 km² (238 sq mi) of it is land and 2 km² (1 sq mi) of it is water. The total area is 0.31% water.

The county's largest body of water is Lake Adger, located about 5 miles north of.

Townships
The county is divided into six : Columbus, Cooper's Gap, Green Creek, Saluda, Tryon, and White Oak.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north and east
 * - south-southeast
 * - south-southwest
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 18,324 people, 7,908 households, and 5,337 families residing in the county. The was 30/km² (77/sq mi). There were 9,192 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (39/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.26%, 5.89% or , 0.19% , 0.24% , 0.03% , 0.63% from , and 0.76% from two or more races. 3.01% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,908 households out of which 23.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.50% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.78.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.10% under the age of 18, 5.80% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 23.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 90.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,259, and the median income for a family was $45,096. Males had a median income of $29,375 versus $23,070 for females. The for the county was $19,804. 10.10% of the population and 6.40% of families were below the. 11.70% of those under the age of 18 and 8.80% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.