Sharkey County, Mississippi

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Sharkey County, Mississippi
Map
Location in the state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1876
Seat	Rolling Fork
Largest city	Rolling Fork
Area - Total - Land - Water	435 sq mi (1,127 km²) 428 sq mi (1,109 km²) 7 sq mi (18 km²), 1.65%
Population - (2000) - Density	6,580 16/sq mi (6/km²)

Sharkey County is a county located in the Mississippi Delta region of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population is 6,580. Its county seat is Rolling Fork^[1]. It is named after William L. Sharkey, the provisional Governor of Mississippi in 1865.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Major highways
- 1.2 Adjacent counties
2 Demographics
3 Communities
4 Education
5 References

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 435 square miles (1,126 km²), of which, 428 square miles (1,108 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (1.65%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent counties

Washington County (north)
Humphreys County (northeast)
Yazoo County (east)
Issaquena County (south & west)

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 6,580 people, 2,163 households, and 1,589 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile (6/km²). There were 2,416 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 29.36% White, 69.32% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 1.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	6,306	—
1890	8,382	32.9%
1900	12,178	45.3%
1910	15,694	28.9%
1920	14,190	-9.6%
1930	13,877	-2.2%
1940	15,433	11.2%
1950	12,903	-16.4%
1960	10,738	-16.8%
1970	8,937	-16.8%
1980	7,964	-10.9%
1990	7,066	-11.3%
2000	6,580	-6.9%
Est. 2007	5,571	-15.3%

There were 2,163 households out of which 36.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.00% were married couples living together, 26.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.50% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.56.

In the county the population was spread out with 33.00% under the age of 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 20.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 88.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $22,285, and the median income for a family was $26,786. Males had a median income of $26,563 versus $17,931 for females. The per capita income for the county was $11,396. About 30.50% of families and 38.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.00% of those under age 18 and 24.20% of those age 65 or over.

Sharkey County has the tenth lowest per capita income in Mississippi and the 73rd lowest in the United States.