Putnam County, West Virginia

Putnam County is a located in the  of. The name is in honor of, who was a hero in the and a general in the. As of 2000, the population was 51,589. Its is.

Putnam County is part of the, with a 2004 population estimate of 307,763 people.

According to the, the county has a total area of 908 (350 ). 897 km² (346 sq mi) of it is land and 11 km² (4 sq mi) of it (1.19%) is water.

Since the county is roughly equidistant between and, the state's two largest cities, along , the area has undergone a period of rapid suburbanization. Areas that were once farms or wooded backcountry are now being developed into subdivisions. In fact, the area is now the second-fastest growing region of West Virginia, following the sections of the that are near.

Controversial winner  lives in Putnam County; he won the multi-state  jackpot on,.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 51,589 people, 20,028 households, and 15,281 families residing in the county. The was 58/km² (149/sq mi). There were 21,621 housing units at an average density of 24/km² (62/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.97%, 0.56% or , 0.16% , 0.58% , 0.02% , 0.13% from , and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.51% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 20,028 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.20% were living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.70% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 25.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,892, and the median income for a family was $48,674. Males had a median income of $40,782 versus $23,532 for females. The for the county was $20,471. About 7.10% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the, including 11.30% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.