Itasca County, Minnesota
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Map_of_Minnesota_highlighting_Itasca_County.png |
is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
Minnesota. It is named after
Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version the Latin words
veritas caput, meaning true head, a reference to the source of the
Mississippi River. As of 2000, the population was 43,992. Its
county seat is
Grand Rapids6. Portions of the
Bois Forte and
Leech Lake Indian reservations are in the county.
The county (originally much larger) was first formed in 1849, upon the creation of
Minnesota Territory, from the Minnesota portion of
La Pointe County, Wisconsin.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 7,583
km² (2,928
mi²). 6,902 km² (2,665 mi²) of it is land and 680 km² (263 mi²) of it (8.97%) is water.
Adjacent counties
*
Koochiching County (north)
*
St. Louis County (east)
*
Aitkin County (south)
*
Cass County (southwest)
*
Beltrami County (west)
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 43,992 people, 17,789 households, and 12,381 families residing in the county. The
population density was 6/km² (16/mi²). There were 24,528 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (9/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.64%
White, 0.16%
Black or
African American, 3.40%
Native American, 0.27%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.16% from
other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 0.60% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 17,789 households out of which 29.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were
married couples living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,234, and the median income for a family was $44,025. Males had a median income of $37,066 versus $22,327 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $17,717. About 7.70% of families and 10.60% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.
*
Itasca County government's website
