Okeechobee County

administration
Okeechobee County Courthouse
US state :	Florida
Administrative headquarters :	Okeechobee
Address of the administrative headquarters:	Okeechobee County 307 NW 5th Avenue Okeechobee, Florida 34972
Foundation :	May 8, 1917
Made up from:	Brevard County
Area code :	001 863
Demographics
Residents :	39,996 (2010)
Population density :	20 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	2309 km²
Water surface :	305 km²
map

Website : www.okeechobeepa.com

The Okeechobee County is a county in the state of Florida of the United States . The county seat is Okeechobee .

geography

The county covers an area of 2309 square kilometers, of which 305 square kilometers are water. It is bordered clockwise by the following counties: Indian River County , St. Lucie County , Martin County , Glades County , Highlands County, and Osceola County .

history

Okeechobee County was formed on May 8, 1917 from parts of Brevard County. It was named after Lake Okeechobee from the Indian language. oka (water) chobi (large).

Demographic data

growth of population
Census	Residents	± in%
1920	2132	-
1930	4129	93.7%
1940	3000	-27.3%
1950	3454	15.1%
1960	6424	86%
1970	11,233	74.9%
1980	20,264	80.4%
1990	29,627	46.2%
2000	39,836	34.5%
2010	39,996	0.4%
1900–1990 2000 + 2010

As of the 2010 census , Okeechobee County had 39,996 people in 18,379 households. The population density was 20 people per square kilometer. The racial population was composed of 77.5% white, 8.0% African American , 1.0% American Indian and 0.9% Asian Americans . 10.8% were members of other races and 1.9% of different races. 23.9% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos .

In 2010 children under 18 years of age and 34.1% of all households lived in 33.5% of all households with persons at least 65 years of age. 68.7% of households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 2.68 people and the average family size was 3.13 people.

26.7% of the population were younger than 20 years old, 25.0% were 20 to 39 years old, 25.6% were 40 to 59 years old, and 22.6% were 60 years or older. The mean age was 39 years. 53.6% of the population were male and 46.4% were female.

The median income for a household in the 34,289 USD , while 27.2% of the population lived below the poverty line.

In 2010, English was the mother tongue of 77.15% of the population, 20.89% spoke Spanish and 1.96% had another mother tongue.

Others

The Lake Okeechobee area was hit by two hurricanes in 1926 and 1928. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane was the first hurricane in the North Atlantic to be classified as magnitude 5, killing approximately 2,000. In 2005, the region was hit again by Hurricane Wilma with magnitude 3. The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail , which lies at the top of the Everglades, is partially developed as a cycle path.