Dukes County, Massachusetts

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Dukes County, Massachusetts

Map
Location in the state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	information needed
Seat	Edgartown
Area - Total - Land - Water	491 sq mi (1,272 km²) 104 sq mi (269 km²) 387 sq mi (1,003 km²), 78.9%
Population - (2000) - Density	14,987 145/sq mi (56/km²)
Website: www.dukescounty.org

The County of Dukes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2000, the population was 14,987. Its county seat is Edgartown^[1]. The county consists of the island of Martha's Vineyard, and the Elizabeth Islands (including Cuttyhunk). It was originally established as Dukes County, New York on November 1, 1683, and was transferred to Massachusetts and divided so that Nantucket Island became Nantucket County, Massachusetts on October 7, 1691. The statute created a county "by the name of Dukes County," as opposed to the standard form "the county of Dukes" which is the reason for the redundancy in the name.^[2]

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Cities, towns, and villages*
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 491 square miles (1,272 km²), of which, 104 square miles (269 km²) of it is land and 387 square miles (1,003 km²) of it is water. The total area is 79% water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 14,987 people, 6,421 households, and 3,788 families residing in the county. The population density was 144 people per square mile (56/km²). There were 14,836 housing units at an average density of 143 per square mile (55/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.69% White, 2.40% Black or African American, 1.71% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.48% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. 1.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 20.4% were of English, 13.3% Irish, 8.6% Portuguese, 6.4% Italian and 5.7% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 93.1% spoke English, 3.7% Portuguese and 1.7% Spanish as their first language.

There were 6,421 households out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.40% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.00% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.70% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 27.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,559, and the median income for a family was $55,018. Males had a median income of $38,945 versus $30,346 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,472. About 5.00% of families and 7.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.40% of those under age 18 and 5.30% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Cities, towns, and villages*

Aquinnah (formerly Gay Head)
Chilmark
- Menemsha (a village of Chilmark)
Edgartown
- Chappaquiddick Island (the small "island" connected to the main island is part of Edgartown)
Gosnold
- Cuttyhunk (a village of Gosnold)
Oak Bluffs
Tisbury
- Vineyard Haven (a village of Tisbury)
West Tisbury