Val Verde County, Texas

Val Verde County is a located in the  of. In 2000, its population was 44,856. Its is.

Val Verde, which means "green valley," was named for a Civil War battle. In, soldiers of Sibley's Brigade took part in the Texas invasion of , where they captured several artillery pieces at the Battle of Val Verde. The battle is memorialized both in the name of the county and a small settlement in.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 8,372 (3,232 ). 8,211 km² (3,170 sq mi) of it is land and 161 km² (62 sq mi) of it (1.92%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 90.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 277.svg|23px]]
 * [[image:US 377.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:Texas 163.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties
The  of  lies to the south.
 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (east)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 44,856 people, 14,151 households, and 11,320 families residing in the county. The was 5/km² (14/sq mi). There were 16,288 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (5/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 76.36%, 1.54% or , 0.68% , 0.55% , 0.05% , 18.22% from , and 2.60% from two or more races. 75.46% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 14,151 households out of which 42.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.50% were living together, 13.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.00% were non-families. 17.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.55.

In the county, the population was spread out with 32.10% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 19.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.

Economy
The median income for a household in the county was $28,376, and the median income for a family was $31,434. Males had a median income of $26,485 versus $18,039 for females. The for the county was $12,096. About 22.10% of families and 26.10% of the population were below the, including 33.80% of those under age 18 and 26.40% of those age 65 or over.