Pike County, Missouri

Pike County is a located in the  of. The county was organized in and named for, explorer. As of, the population is 18,351. Its is. The folksong is generally thought to refer to Pike County, Misouri.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,774 (685 ). 1,743 km² (673 sq mi) of it is land and 31 km² (12 sq mi) of it is water. The total area is 1.75% water.

Adjacent counties

 * (northwest)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Pike County, Missouri, is one of the few counties in the United States to border its namesake in another state--in this case, Pike County, Illinois.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 18,351 people, 6,451 households, and 4,476 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (27/sq mi). There were 7,493 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (11/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.44%, 9.17% or , 0.24% , 0.15% , 0.04% , 0.92% from , and 1.04% from two or more races. 1.61% of the population were or  of any race. 24.6% were of, 24.5% , 8.9% and 8.5%  ancestry according to.

There were 6,451 households out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 119.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,373, and the median income for a family was $39,059. Males had a median income of $28,528 versus $19,426 for females. The for the county was $14,462. 15.50% of the population and 11.90% of families were below the. 20.20% of those under the age of 18 and 15.20% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.