Creston, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Creston is a city in Union County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,597 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union County^GR6. Southwestern Community College is located in Creston. Within a few miles of Creston are Green Valley State Park, Twelve Mile Lake and Three Mile Lake and Recreation Area.

Creston has a long railroad history. Today, Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Creston, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago, Illinois, and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco. Creston is also a stop on the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad. Crews work from Creston to Galesburg, IL and Lincoln, NE.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 7,597 people, 3,346 households, and 1,974 families residing in the city. The population density was 577.4/km² (1,496.2/mi²). There were 3,598 housing units at an average density of 273.5/km² (708.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.13% White, 0.34% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population.

There were 3,346 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,831, and the median income for a family was $41,003. Males had a median income of $27,580 versus $20,172 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,411. About 7.0% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.