Jefferson County, Iowa

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 437 square miles (1,130 km²), of which 436 square miles (1,130 km²) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 16,843 in the county, with a population density of 38.6893/sq mi (14.9380/km²). There were 7,594 housing units, of which 6,846 were occupied.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,181 people, 6,649 households, and 4,281 families residing in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 7,241 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.02% White, 0.64% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 1.70% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. 1.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,649 households out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.10% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 30.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 29.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,851, and the median income for a family was $43,819. Males had a median income of $32,066 versus $22,479 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,579. About 7.40% of families and 10.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.40% of those under age 18 and 9.00% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

Jefferson County's executive branch is a three-member board of supervisors. Supervisors are elected to four-year terms. The current board members, their party affiliations and the years in which they were last elected are: Steve Burgmeier (Chair) (Republican, 2008), Lee Dimmitt (Republican, 2008), and Richard Reed (Republican, 2010). Other elected officials are Scott Reneker, county auditor; Gregg Morton, county sheriff; Terri Kness, county treasurer; and Kelly Spees, county recorder.

Politics

Historically, Jefferson County has heavily favored presidential candidates from the Republican Party. It is noted for being one of the few counties in Iowa that never voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt in any of his four presidential campaigns, along with having never given a Democrat who carried the county over 60% of the vote. In recent decades, politics within the county have become more competitive. Since 1992, the county has been carried by the Democratic presidential candidate in every election with the exception of 2000, when George W. Bush carried it with a plurality. The last Republican to win the county with a majority of the vote was Ronald Reagan in 1984. In the 1996 presidential election, Jefferson County was the only county in the entire country to give any (winning) candidate less than 40% of the vote, with Bill Clinton winning the county 35.1% to Bob Dole's 34.4%. In 2016, Donald Trump received a plurality of the votes in Jefferson County.

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Jefferson County.

† county seat