Bates County, Missouri

Bates County, Missouri
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	1833
Named for	Frederick Bates, the second governor of Missouri
Seat	Butler
Largest city	Butler
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	851.37 sq mi (2,205 km²) 848.47 sq mi (2,198 km²) 2.90 sq mi (8 km²), 0.34
Population  - (2010)  - Density	17,049 20/sq mi (8/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	http://www.batescounty.net/

Bates County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2010 census, the population was 17,049, marking a 2.4% increase over the 2000 population of 16,653. Its county seat is Butler. The county was organized in 1833 and named after Frederick Bates, the second governor of Missouri.

Bates is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 851.37 square miles (2,205.0 km²), of which 848.47 square miles (2,197.5 km²) (or 99.66%) is land and 2.90 square miles (7.5 km²) (or 0.34%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Cass County (north)
• Henry County (northeast)
• St. Clair County (southeast)
• Vernon County (south)
• Linn County, Kansas (west)
• Miami County, Kansas (northwest)

Major highways

• U.S. Route 71
• Route 18
• Route 52

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,653 people, 6,511 households, and 4,557 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 7,247 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.33% White, 0.61% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. 1.07% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,511 households out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,731, and the median income for a family was $36,470. Males had a median income of $30,298 versus $19,772 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,477. About 11.50% of families and 14.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.30% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities

• Adrian
• Amoret
• Amsterdam
• Butler
• Drexel
• Rich Hill
• Rockville
• Hume

Villages

• Foster
• Merwin
• Passaic

Townships

Bates County is divided into twenty-four townships:

Charlotte Deepwater Deer Creek East Boone Elkhart

Grand River Homer Howard Hudson Lone Oak

Mingo Mound Mount Pleasant New Home Osage

Pleasant Gap Prairie Rockville Shawnee Spruce

Summit Walnut West Boone West Point

Schools

• Butler R-V Bears
• Adrian R-III Blackhawks
• Ballard R-II Bulldogs
• Hudson R-IX (PK-8 only)
• Hume R-VIII Hornets
• Miami R-I Eagles
• Rich Hill R-IV Tigers
• Drexel R-IV Bobcats

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bates County, Missouri

External links

• Bates County website
• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Bates County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books