Arapahoe County, Colorado

Arapahoe County is the third most populous of the of the  of the. The estimates that the county population was 537,197 in 2006, a 10.09% increase since. The is  and the most populous city is. Arapahoe County is part of the and the. Arapahoe County calls itself "Colorado's First County" since its origins predate the.

History
Arapahoe County was one of the original 17 counties created by the on. Arapahoe County originally stretched from the line of present-day Sheridan Boulevard 160 s (258 ) east to the state border, and from the line of present-day County Line Road 30 s (48 ) north to the  (168th Avenue). served as the Arapahoe County until.

In, the voted to split Arapahoe County into three parts:  a new  , a new , and the remainder of the Arapahoe County to be renamed. A ruling by the, subsequent , and a delayed the reorganization until. designated as the temporary South Arapahoe County. On, the changed the name of South Arapahoe County back to Arapahoe County. On, Arapahoe County voters chose over  by a vote of 1310 to 829 to be the permanent.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,086 (805 ). 2,080 km² (803 sq mi) of it is land and 6 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.28%) is water. The county measures 72 s (116 ) east to west and 4 to 12 s (6 to 19 ) south to north.

Two s of Arapahoe County remain entirely surrounded by the. The occupies one exclave.

Adjacent Counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 487,967 people, 190,909 households, and 125,809 families residing in the county. The was 235/km² (608/sq mi). There were 196,835 housing units at an average density of 95/km² (245/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 79.93%, 7.67% or , 0.66% , 3.95% , 0.12% , 4.51% from , and 3.16% from two or more races. 11.81% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 190,909 households out of which 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.20% were living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.70% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 33.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 8.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,570, and the median income for a family was $63,875. Males had a median income of $41,601 versus $31,612 for females. The for the county was $28,147. About 4.20% of families and 5.80% of the population were below the, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.10% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

 * (created mostly from and  CDPs)
 * (created mostly from and  CDPs)
 * (created mostly from and  CDPs)
 * (created mostly from and  CDPs)

Formerly Unincorporated

 * (now part of )
 *  (now part of )