Benewah County, Idaho

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Benewah County, Idaho

Map
Location in the state of Idaho
Idaho's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	January 23, 1915
Seat	St. Maries
Area - Total - Land - Water	784 sq mi sq mi (2,030 km² km²) , 1.01%
Population^Est. - (2005) - Density	9,218 5/sq mi (2/km²)

Benewah County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. It was established in 1915 and was named after a Couer d'Alene chief. As of the 2000 Census the county had a population of 9,171 (2005 estimate: 9,218) [1]. The county seat is St. Maries^[1].

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Adjacent counties
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
- 4.1 Unincorporated communities
- 4.2 Parks
5 Notes

[edit] History

Benewah County was formed on January 23, 1915 from sections of Kootenai County. It was named after a chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.^[2]

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 784 square miles (2,030 km²), of which, 776 square miles (2,010 km²) of it is land and 8 square miles (20 km²) of it (1.01%) is water. It is part of the Palouse, a wide and rolling prairie-like region of the middle Columbia basin.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 9,171 people, 3,580 households, and 2,538 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 4,238 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.66% White, 0.12% Black or African American, 8.94% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 26.6% were of German, 11.7% English, 9.5% American and 8.6% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 3,580 households out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.40% were married couples living together, 7.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.10% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.90% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 26.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 104.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,517, and the median income for a family was $36,000. Males had a median income of $35,097 versus $20,288 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,285. About 10.50% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.20% of those under age 18 and 9.70% of those age 65 or over.