Amherst, Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amherst is a town in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Amherst County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Notable people born here
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Amherst is located at 37°34′37″N, 79°3′2″W (37.576899, -79.050424)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 12.9 km² (5.0 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,251 people, 940 households, and 568 families residing in the town. The population density was 174.2/km² (451.3/mi²). There were 1,000 housing units at an average density of 77.4/km² (200.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 68.95% White, 29.63% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 940 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 24.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $33,000, and the median income for a family was $44,181. Males had a median income of $35,714 versus $20,321 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,457. About 13.3% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.1% of those under age 18 and 26.5% of those age 65 or over.