Durham County, North Carolina Information & Durham County, North Carolina Links at HealthHaven.com

Durham County
	Durham County, North Carolina
	; Location in the state of North Carolina
	; North Carolina's location in the U.S.
Seat	Durham
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 298 sq mi (772 km²); 290 sq mi (751 km²); 7 sq mi (18 km²), 2.51%
PopulationEst.; - (2008); - Density	; 262,715; 769/sq mi (297/km²)
Founded	1881
Website	www.co.durham.nc.us

Durham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its county seat is Durham.^[1]

[edit] History

The county was formed on April 17, 1881, from parts of Orange County and Wake County, taking the name of its own county seat. In 1911 parts of Cedar Fork Township of Wake County was transferred to Durham County and became Carr Township.

[edit] Law and government

Durham County is a member of the regional Triangle J Council of Governments.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 298 square miles (771 km²), of which, 290 square miles (752 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (2.51%) is water. As of July 1, 2008, the county's population is estimated by the census bureau to be 262,715.

[edit] Townships

The county is divided into six townships: Carr, Durham, Lebanon, Mangum, Oak Grove, and Triangle.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Person County, North Carolina - north
Granville County, North Carolina - northeast
Wake County, North Carolina - southeast
Chatham County, North Carolina - south-southwest
Orange County, North Carolina - west

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 223,314 people, 89,015 households, and 54,032 families residing in the county. The population density was 769 people per square mile (297/km²). There were 95,452 housing units at an average density of 329 per square mile (127/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 50.91% White, 39.46% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 3.29% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.21% from other races, and 1.80% from two or more races. 7.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 89,015 households out of which 29.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.00% were married couples living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.30% were non-families. 30.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.90% under the age of 18, 12.80% from 18 to 24, 34.80% from 25 to 44, 19.80% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,337, and the median income for a family was $53,223. Males had a median income of $35,939 versus $30,683 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,156. About 9.80% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] 2008 and 2004 Presidential election Results

Durham County is the most heavily Democratic county in North Carolina, due to the presence of Duke University and that 40% of the county's population is African American. Barack Obama won 76% of the vote here and 103,456 votes. John McCain won only 23% of the vote and 32,353 votes. Durham votes heavily Democratic in statewide races too. Successful candidates for Governor and Senator, Beverly Perdue and Kay Hagan, won respectively 71% and 75% of the vote. The last time Durham County voted for a Republican presidential candidate was in 1972. In 2004, John F. Kerry won 68% of the vote and 74,524 votes. George W. Bush won 32% of the vote and 34,614 votes. ^[3]

[edit] Communities

Map of Durham County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

[edit] Cities and towns

The only incorporated municipality centered in Durham County is the City of Durham. However, parts of the Town of Chapel Hill in Orange County, near Hillsborough, N.C. are in Durham county.