Mercer County, West Virginia

administration
The Mercer County Courthouse in Princeton, listed on the NRHP since 1980
US state :	West Virginia
Administrative headquarters :	Princeton
Address of the administrative headquarters:	County Courthouse 1501 W Main Street Princeton, WV 24740-2600
Foundation :	March 17, 1837
Made up from:	Giles County , Virginia Tazewell County , Virginia
Area code :	001 304
Demographics
Residents :	62,264 (2010)
Population density :	57.2 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	1090 km²
Water surface :	1 km²
map

Mercer County is a county in the state of West Virginia in the United States . The county seat is Princeton .

geography

The county is located in southern West Virginia, bordering Virginia, and covers an area of 1,090 square kilometers, one square kilometer of which is water. It is bordered clockwise by the following counties: Raleigh County , Summers County , Giles County, Virginia, Bland County, Virginia, Tazewell County, Virginia, McDowell County, and Wyoming Counties .

history

Mercer County was formed on March 17, 1837 from parts of Giles and Tazewell Counties in Virginia. It was named after Hugh Mercer , a Continental Army general during the American Revolutionary War who died of being wounded during the Battle of Princeton .

Demographic data

Population development
Census	Residents	± in%
1840	2233	-
1850	4222	89.1%
1860	6819	61.5%
1870	7064	3.6%
1880	7467	5.7%
1890	16.002	114.3%
1900	23,023	43.9%
1910	38,371	66.7%
1920	49,558	29.2%
1930	61,323	23.7%
1940	68,289	11.4%
1950	75.013	9.8%
1960	68.206	-9.1%
1970	63.206	-7.3%
1980	73,942	17%
1990	64,980	-12.1%
2000	62,980	-3.1%
2010	62.264	-1.1%
Before 1900 1900-1990

Mercer County Age Pyramid

According to the 2000 census , there were 62,980 people in 26,509 households and 17,946 families in Mercer County. The population density was 58 inhabitants per square kilometer. The racial the population was composed of 92.56 percent white, 5.82 percent African American, 0.19 percent Native American, 0.46 percent Asian, 0.01 percent of residents from the Pacific island area and 0.10 percent from other ethnic groups Groups; 0.85 percent were descended from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 0.45 percent of the population.

Of the 26,509 households, 26.7 percent had children and young people under the age of 18 living with them. 53.0 percent were married couples living together, 11.2 percent were single mothers, 32.3 percent were non-families, 28.7 percent were single households and 13.6 percent had people aged 65 years or over. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.85.

For the entire county, the population was composed of 21.1 percent of residents under 18 years of age, 9.8 percent between 18 and 24 years of age, 26.2 percent between 25 and 44 years of age, 25.5 percent between 45 and 64 years of age 17.4 percent were 65 years of age or over. The average age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.1 males. For every 100 women aged 18 years or over there were statistically 87.7 men.

The median income for a household in the county is $ 26,628 , and the median income for a family is $ 33,524. Males had a median income of $ 29,243 versus $ 19,013 for females. The per capita income was $ 15,564. 14.7 percent of families and 19.7 percent of the population were below the poverty line. Of these, 28.9 percent were children or adolescents under 18 years of age and 12.7 percent were people over 65 years of age.