Oak Ridge, North Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oak Ridge is a town in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,988 at the 2000 census. The Oak Ridge Military Academy, a private, coed, college-preparatory military boarding school, was established here in 1852. It is the third-oldest military school in the nation still in operation, and it is the official military school of North Carolina, as designated by the state legislature. Until the late 1990's the Oak Ridge area was mostly rural farmland, with numerous tobacco and strawberry farms. However, since its incorporation as a town in 1998, Oak Ridge has undergone rapid suburbanization and population growth. Many of the area's farms have been sold to developers and turned into upper-class housing developments, and several shopping centers have been built around the military academy. American Idol (Season 5) Star Chris Daughtry recently took up residence in Oak Ridge.

[edit] Geography

Oak Ridge is located at 36°10′1″N, 79°58′57″W (36.166944, -79.982577)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 38.1 km² (14.7 mi²). 38.0 km² (14.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.27%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,988 people, 1,382 households, and 1,173 families residing in the town. The population density was 105.0/km² (271.9/mi²). There were 1,462 housing units at an average density of 38.5/km² (99.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 93.48% White, 4.21% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.73% Asian,, 0.63% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.30% of the population. No Pacific Islanders live in Oak Ridge.

There were 1,382 households out of which 44.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.4% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.1% were non-families. 11.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $74,609, and the median income for a family was $82,070. Males had a median income of $56,250 versus $35,952 for females. The per capita income for the town was $29,346. About 2.2% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.