Van Meter, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Van Meter is a town in Dallas County, Iowa, along the Raccoon River. The population was 866 at the 2000 census. Major league baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller is a native of Van Meter and operates a museum in the town.

Van Meter is also the childhood home of popular fiction writer, Derek Benz, who has earned much acclaim for his debut novel, The Revenge of the Shadow King.

On November 11, 2006, Veterans Day, ground was broken for an Iowa Veterans Cemetery at a site located near Van Meter. Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was among those who helped dedicate the cemetery.

Van Meter is situated west of Des Moines, Iowa, just south of Interstate 80.

[edit] Geography

Van Meter is located at 41°31′53″N, 93°57′19″W (41.531505, -93.955338)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²). 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (3.23%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 866 people, 326 households, and 237 families residing in the city. The population density was 557.3/km² (1,450.3/mi²). There were 342 housing units at an average density of 220.1/km² (572.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.15% White, 0.23% African American, 0.69% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.39% of the population.

There were 326 households out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,625, and the median income for a family was $59,000. Males had a median income of $37,895 versus $26,023 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,272. About 0.8% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.