Benton County, Mississippi

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Benton County, Mississippi
Map
Location in the state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1870
Seat	Ashland
Largest Town	Ashland
Area - Total - Land - Water	409 sq mi (1,059 km²) 407 sq mi (1,054 km²) 2 sq mi (5 km²), 0.46%
Population - (2000) - Density	8,026 21/sq mi (8/km²)

Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population is 8,026. Its county seat is Ashland^[1]. Benton county is named for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Major highways
- 1.2 Adjacent counties
2 Demographics
3 Communities
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 409 square miles (1,058 km²), of which, 407 square miles (1,054 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

The headwaters of the Wolf River meander and braid their way north and west across northern Benton County from Baker's Pond, the river's source spring (highest origin of continuous flow) in the Holly Springs National Forest approximately 1 mile southwest of where U.S. Highway 72 passes into Tippah County, Mississippi. The Wolf passes into Fayette County, Tennessee between Michigan City (on the Mississippi side) and La Grange, Tennessee.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	11,023	—
1890	10,585	−4%
1900	10,510	−0.7%
1910	10,245	−2.5%
1920	9,851	−3.8%
1930	9,813	−0.4%
1940	10,429	6.3%
1950	8,793	−15.7%
1960	7,723	−12.2%
1970	7,505	−2.8%
1980	8,153	8.6%
1990	8,046	−1.3%
2000	8,026	−0.2%
Est. 2007	8,037	0.1%

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 8,026 people, 2,999 households, and 2,216 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 3,456 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.72% White, 36.76% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 1.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,999 households out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were married couples living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.10% were non-families. 23.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.90% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 25.80% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $24,149, and the median income for a family was $29,907. Males had a median income of $26,291 versus $19,519 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,212. About 19.20% of families and 23.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.00% of those under age 18 and 24.80% of those age 65 or over.