Benton County, Missouri

Benton County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 17,180. In 2005, its estimated population was 18,510. Its is. The county was organized in and named for,  from Missouri.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,949 (752 ). 1,827 km² (706 sq mi) of it is land and 122 km² (47 sq mi) of it (6.24%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,180 people, 7,420 households, and 5,179 families residing in the county. The was 9/km² (24/sq mi). There were 12,691 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (18/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.96%, 0.15% or , 0.53% , 0.13% , 0.01% , 0.12% from , and 1.10% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,420 households out of which 23.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.60% were living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.72.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.50% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 21.80% from 25 to 44, 29.70% from 45 to 64, and 22.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,646, and the median income for a family was $32,459. Males had a median income of $26,203 versus $19,054 for females. The for the county was $15,457. About 10.20% of families and 15.70% of the population were below the, including 24.50% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.