Rutherford County, North Carolina

Rutherford County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 62,899. Its is.

History
The county was formed in from the western part of the former. It was named for, leader of an expedition against the in  and a general in the.

In parts of Rutherford County and  were combined to form. In parts of Rutherford County and  were combined to form. In additional parts of Rutherford County and Burke County were combined to form. Finally, in parts of Rutherford County and  were combined to form.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,466 (566 ). 1,461 km² (564 sq mi) of it is land and 5 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.31%) is water.

Townships
The county is divided into fourteen : Camp Creek, Chimney Rock, Colfax, Cool Springs, Duncans Creek, Gilkey, Golden Valley, Green Hill, High Shoals, Logan Store, Morgan, Rutherfordton, Spindale, Sulphur Springs, and Union.

Adjacent Counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 62,899 people, 25,191 households, and 17,935 families residing in the county. The was 43/km² (112/sq mi). There were 29,535 housing units at an average density of 20/km² (52/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 86.79%, 11.23% or , 0.20% , 0.33% , 0.03% , 0.67% from , and 0.74% from two or more races. 1.81% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 25,191 households out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were living together, 11.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.80% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% 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 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,122, and the median income for a family was $37,787. Males had a median income of $28,890 versus $21,489 for females. The for the county was $16,270. About 10.40% of families and 13.90% of the population were below the, including 18.30% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over.