Polk County (Florida)

administration
Polk County Courthouse
National emblem
seal
US state :	Florida
Administrative headquarters :	Bartow
Address of the administrative headquarters:	Administration Building 330 West Church Street Bartow, Florida 33830
Foundation :	February 8, 1861
Made up from:	Hillsborough County
Area code :	001 863
Demographics
Residents :	602,095 (2010)
Population density :	124 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	5206 km²
Water surface :	351 km²
map

Website : www.polk-county.net

The Polk County is a county in the state of Florida of the United States . The county seat is Bartow . The largest city is Lakeland .

geography

The county has an area of 5,206 square kilometers, of which 351 square kilometers are water. Polk County has 554 natural freshwater lakes. The county is bordered clockwise by the following counties: Lake County , Osceola County , Highlands County , Hardee County , Hillsborough County , Pasco County, and Sumter Counties .

The county is known as the Lakeland – Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area by the Office of Management and Budget for statistical purposes .

history

Polk County was formed on February 8, 1861 from the eastern part of Hillsborough County . It was named after James K. Polk , the eleventh President of the United States. His tenure lasted from 1845 to 1849.

economy

The main industries in Polk County are phosphate mining, tourism, and agriculture. The phosphate deposits are estimated to be approximately 500,000 acres (2000 km²) and account for 75 percent of the national and 25 percent of the global phosphate deposits. In 1998, Polk County produced 14.7 million tons.

Demographic data

growth of population
Census	Residents	± in%
1870	3169	-
1880	3181	0.4%
1890	7905	148.5%
1900	12,472	57.8%
1910	24,148	93.6%
1920	38,661	60.1%
1930	72.291	87%
1940	86,665	19.9%
1950	123.997	43.1%
1960	195.139	57.4%
1970	227.222	16.4%
1980	321,652	41.6%
1990	405,382	26%
2000	502,385	23.9%
2010	602.095	19.8%
Before 1900 1900–1990 2000 + 2010

According to the 2010 census , Polk County had 602,095 people in 280,954 households. The population density was 124 inhabitants per square kilometer. Ethnically, the population was made up of 75.2% white, 14.8% African American , 0.4% Native American and 1.6% Asian Americans . 5.6% were members of other races and 2.4% of different races. 17.7% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos .

In 2010 children under the age of 18 lived in 32.1% of all households and persons aged 65 or over lived in 33.4% of all households. 70.0% of the households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 2.59 people and the average family size was 3.05 people.

26.3% of the population were younger than 20 years, 24.0% were 20 to 39 years old, 25.5% were 40 to 59 years old, and 24.2% were at least 60 years old. The mean age was 40 years. 49.0% of the population were male and 51.0% were female.

The median income for a household in the 43,606 USD , while 17.5% of the population lived below the poverty line.

In 2010, 81.80% of the population spoke English as their first language, 14.34% spoke Spanish and 3.86% spoke another language.