Greene County, Missouri

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Greene County, Missouri
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	1833
Seat	Springfield
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	678 sq mi (1,756 km²) 675 sq mi (1,748 km²) 3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.42%
Population  - (2020)  - Density	298,915 357/sq mi (138/km²)
Website	www.greenecountymo.org

Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2020, the population was 298,915. Its county seat is Springfield⁶. The county was organized in 1833 and is named after the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,755 km² (678 sq mi). 1,748 km² (675 sq mi) of it is land and 7 km² (3 sq mi) of it (0.42%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Polk County (north)
• Dallas County (northeast)
• Webster County (east)
• Christian County (south)
• Lawrence County (southwest)
• Dade County (northwest)

Major highways

• Interstate 44
• U.S. Route 60
• U.S. Route 65
• U.S. Route 66 (1926-1979)
• U.S. Route 160
• Missouri Route 13
• Missouri Route 125
• Missouri Route 266

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 240,391 people, 97,859 households, and 61,846 families residing in the county. The population density was 138/km² (356/sq mi). There were 104,517 housing units at an average density of 60/km² (155/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.54% White, 2.26% Black or African American, 0.66% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.68% from two or more races. 1.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 97,859 households out of which 28.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.00% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.80% were non-families. 29.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.30% under the age of 18, 13.80% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,157, and the median income for a family was $42,613. Males had a median income of $30,672 versus $21,987 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,185. About 7.60% of families and 12.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

United States presidential election results for Greene County, Missouri

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	83,630	58.78%	55,068	38.71%	3,574	2.51%
2016	78,035	59.79%	42,728	32.74%	9,760	7.48%
2012	76,900	60.83%	46,219	36.56%	3,300	2.61%
2008	77,683	57.06%	56,181	41.26%	2,283	1.68%
2004	77,885	62.18%	46,657	37.25%	724	0.58%
2000	59,178	57.50%	41,091	39.92%	2,657	2.58%
1996	48,193	49.60%	39,300	40.45%	9,671	9.95%
1992	46,457	43.95%	41,137	38.91%	18,119	17.14%
1988	52,211	59.36%	35,475	40.33%	267	0.30%
1984	57,250	67.18%	27,965	32.82%	0	0.00%
1980	43,116	55.69%	30,498	39.39%	3,811	4.92%
1976	37,691	52.20%	33,824	46.84%	690	0.96%
1972	48,348	70.58%	20,155	29.42%	0	0.00%
1968	32,638	55.27%	19,659	33.29%	6,751	11.43%
1964	23,989	44.33%	30,130	55.67%	0	0.00%
1960	36,943	64.36%	20,457	35.64%	0	0.00%
1956	29,944	59.71%	20,206	40.29%	0	0.00%
1952	29,673	60.57%	19,234	39.26%	81	0.17%
1948	18,836	47.49%	20,762	52.34%	66	0.17%
1944	21,531	55.37%	17,287	44.46%	68	0.17%
1940	21,456	49.10%	22,130	50.65%	109	0.25%
1936	17,298	44.46%	21,489	55.23%	119	0.31%
1932	13,943	42.52%	18,255	55.67%	596	1.82%
1928	22,166	66.86%	10,901	32.88%	84	0.25%
1924	13,618	45.74%	13,084	43.95%	3,069	10.31%
1920	15,755	56.02%	11,514	40.94%	857	3.05%
1916	7,543	48.95%	7,191	46.66%	676	4.39%
1912	4,350	34.63%	5,089	40.52%	3,121	24.85%
1908	6,439	49.81%	5,830	45.10%	659	5.10%
1904	6,570	54.98%	4,540	37.99%	839	7.02%
1900	6,009	50.65%	5,519	46.52%	336	2.83%
1896	5,808	47.58%	6,327	51.83%	72	0.59%
1892	4,839	45.81%	4,051	38.35%	1,673	15.84%
1888	4,934	50.68%	3,984	40.92%	818	8.40%

Like most counties situated in Southwest Missouri, Greene County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. George W. Bush carried Greene County in 2000 and 2004 by almost two-to-one margins, and like many other counties throughout Southwest Missouri, Greene County favored John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008. In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump carried Greene County by a margin of 60% to 33%. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Greene County was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it passed Greene County with 72.04 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to ban same-sex marriage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it narrowly failed in Greene County with 51.62 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research. Despite Greene County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist causes like increasing the minimum wage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Greene County with 74.41 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 78.99 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage. In 2020, Greene County was one of only eight counties in Missouri and the only one outside St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia to vote yes on Amendment 2 to expand Medicaid - it passed Greene County with 52.3 percent of the vote and statewide with 53.3 percent.

Cities and towns

Ash Grove Battlefield Bois D'Arc Brookline

Ebenzer Fair Grove Logan Nogo

Oak Grove Heights Plano Republic Rogersville

Springfield Strafford Turners Walnut Grove

Willard

Fire departments and districts

Republic and Springfield have city fire departments. Additionally, the county is served by the following fire districts:

• Ash Grove
• Battlefield
• Billings
• Brookline
• Ebenezer
• Fair Grove
• Logan-Rogersville
• Pleasant View
• Strafford
• Walnut Grove
• West Republic
• Willard

External links

• Greene County government's website
• Information about Springfield, MO

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