Rutherford County, Tennessee

Rutherford County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 182,023. This grew when the 2005 estimate placed the population at 218,292. Its is, which is also the geographic center of Tennessee, as well as the  of Tennessee. The county is included in the.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,616 (624 ). 1,603 km² (619 sq mi) of it is land and 13 km² (5 sq mi) of it (0.81%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 182,023 people, 66,443 households, and 47,440 families residing in the county. The was 114/km² (294/sq mi). There were 70,616 housing units at an average density of 44/km² (114/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 85.73%, 9.51% or , 0.29% , 1.90% , 0.04% , 1.32% from , and 1.20% from two or more races. 2.78% of the population were or  of any race.

By 2005 there had been small but noticeable shifts. The Latino population had climed to 4.8%, which meant that in light of the growing county population the number of Latinos in the county had nearly doubled, now numbering about 10,000. The African American population had climed to 11.3% of the population. The Asian population had climbed to 2.6% of the population.

In 2000 there were 66,443 households out of which 37.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 20.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.40% under the age of 18, 13.20% from 18 to 24, 33.50% from 25 to 44, 19.40% from 45 to 64, and 7.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,312, and the median income for a family was $53,553. Males had a median income of $36,788 versus $26,555 for females. The for the county was $19,938. About 5.80% of families and 9.00% of the population were below the, including 8.50% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

U.S. Census 2006 estimates put the population of Rutherford County at 228,829. This represented over 25% population growth since the 2000 census.

History
Rutherford County was formed in 1803 from parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties. It was named in honor of (1721-1805). Rutherford was a colonial legislator and a  general who settled in  after the Revolution and served as President of the Council of the Territory of Tennessee before Tennessee attained statehood.

Rutherford County is an outlying part of metropolitan. Since 1970 its population has been increasing rapidly as Nashville becomes a true metropolis. The rate of growth accelerated in the 1990s and continued at a brisk pace into the first decade of the 21st Century. From 2005-2006 the county population grew by over 10,000 people.

Bible Park USA
In 2007, the Blackman United Methodist Church in Blackman Community announced a proposal by to build a 100-acre -themed  on the church's property, with the proposed name "Bible Park USA". There has been significant resistance to such a development from the local residents.