Alexander County, North Carolina

Alexander County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 33,603. Its is.

Alexander County is part of the.

Law and government
Alexander County is a member of the regional.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 682 (263 ). 674 km² (260 sq mi) of it is land and 8 km² (3 sq mi) of it (1.12%) is water.

Alexander County is located within the region of western North Carolina. The county's main geographic feature is the, a deeply eroded spur of the to the west. The "Brushies", as they are called locally, rise from 300 to 800 feet above the surrounding countryside, and dominate the county's northern horizon. The highest point in Alexander County is Hickory Knob in the Brushies, which rises to 2,560 feet above sea level. Barrett Mountain, an isolated mountain ridge, is in the western part of the county. The remainder of Alexander County's terrain consists of gently rolling countryside. The county's largest river, the, forms its southern border.

Within Alexander County is the unincorporated town of, the location of a that yields s, s, and its namesake stone "hiddenite", a variety of. According to the website of the mine's owners, it is "the only emerald mine in the United States open to the public for prospecting."

Townships
The county is divided into eight : Sharpes, Ellendale, Gwaltney, Little River, Millers, Sugar Loaf, Taylorsville, and Wittenburg.

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 33,603 people, 13,137 households, and 9,747 families residing in the county. The was 50/km² (129/sq mi). There were 14,098 housing units at an average density of 21/km² (54/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.00%, 4.63% or , 0.15% , 1.04% , 1.34% from , and 0.84% from two or more races. 2.50% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 13,137 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.50% were living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 21.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,684, and the median income for a family was $45,691. Males had a median income of $29,857 versus $21,868 for females. The for the county was $18,507. About 5.90% of families and 8.50% of the population were below the, including 10.20% of those under age 18 and 14.60% of those age 65 or over.

Unincorporated places

 * Hiddenite
 * Drumstand
 * Vashti
 * Ellendale
 * Wittenburg
 * Sugar Loaf
 * Little River
 * Millersville
 * Little River
 * Millersville