Catawba County, North Carolina

Catawba County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 141,685. Its is  and its largest city is.

Catawba County is part of the.

History
The county was formed in from. It was named for the tribe of, who once inhabited the area.

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

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,071 (414 ). 1,036 km² (400 sq mi) of it is land and 35 km² (14 sq mi) of it (3.27%) is water.

Townships
The county is divided into eight : Bandy's, Caldwell, Catawba, Clines, Hickory, Jacobs Fork, Mountain Creek,Newton, and Longview.

Adjacent Counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 141,685 people, 55,533 households, and 39,095 families residing in the county. The was 137/km² (354/sq mi). There were 59,919 housing units at an average density of 58/km² (150/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 84.99%, 8.37% or , 0.26% , 2.93% , 0.05% , 2.26% from , and 1.14% from two or more races. 5.57% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 55,533 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.30% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,536, and the median income for a family was $47,474. Males had a median income of $30,822 versus $23,352 for females. The for the county was $20,358. About 6.50% of families and 9.10% of the population were below the, including 12.50% of those under age 18 and 9.70% of those age 65 or over.