Rice County, Kansas

Rice County (standard abbreviation: RC) is a located in the  of ; it was named in memory of, Brigadier-General, United States volunteers, killed ,  at. As of the, the population was 10,761. The largest city and is.

Law and government
Although the was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, Rice County has remained a prohibition, or, county.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,886 (728 ). 1,882 km² (727 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.24%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 10,761 people, 4,050 households, and 2,830 families residing in the county. The was 6/km² (15/sq mi). There were 4,609 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (6/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.68%, 1.15% or , 0.57% , 0.33% , 0.04% , 1.84% from , and 1.39% from two or more races. 5.61% of the population were or  of any race.



There were 4,050 households out of which 31.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.10% were living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.70% under the age of 18, 13.30% from 18 to 24, 22.80% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,671, and the median income for a family was $40,960. Males had a median income of $31,175 versus $18,968 for females. The for the county was $16,064. About 8.50% of families and 10.70% of the population were below the, including 14.60% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.

Incorporated cities
Name and population (2004 estimate):
 * , 3,576 (county seat)
 * , 2,587
 * , 530
 * , 471
 * , 300
 * , 271
 * , 161
 * , 95
 * , 11

Townships
Rice County is divided into twenty. The cities of and  are considered governmentally independent and are excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

Unified school districts

 * Sterling USD 376
 * Chase USD 401
 * Lyons USD 405
 * Little River USD 444