Population and Change. Over the period from 2000 to 2006, Jackson County's population increased by 9,198, going from 654,880 to 664,078 in 2006. This was a change of 1.4 percent, as compared with Missouri (4.4%).
Components of Change. Natural Increase is defined as births minus deaths. Jackson County had 26,575 more births than deaths between 2000 and 2006. Net migration is the difference between the number of people who moved into an area and the number of people who moved out. So a negative net migration means a net loss of persons due to migration, while a positive value represents a net gain. Between 2000 and 2006, Jackson County had a net migration of -17,377.
Age. In 2006, Jackson County reported 12.2 percent of its residents were 65 and older compared to 13.3 percent statewide. At the same time, the proportion of young people under 18 in the county was 25.5 percent. Missouri reported 24.1 percent during the same period.
Racial Diversity. The 2006 vintage estimates from the Census Bureau indicate that 72.8 percent of the population in the county was White (483,388 persons), while the estimated black population was 155,141 (23.4%). The same set of estimates indicated there were 10,745 Asians (1.6%) and 3,287 American Indians (0.5%). Hispanic is not considered to be a race by the Census Bureau, but rather a separate category. In 2006 there were an estimated 47,180 hispanic persons (7.1%) living in the county.
Place of Residence. Estimates for 2006 also show 96.1 percent of the population lived in places of 2,500 or more in Jackson County. Those living in smaller places account for 0.6 percent of the county's population and 3.3 percent lived in unincorporated areas.
Housing. According to the Census Bureau's estimates, there were 311,727 housing units in Jackson County in 2006. The homeownership rate in 2000 was 62.9 percent compared to 70.3 percent statewide. The median value of owner-occupied housing units in 2000 was $85,000 compared with a statewide median value of $89,900.
Households and Families. There were about 266,501 households in the county according to the 2000 decennial census. Families comprised 62.8 percent of households (167,349). About 19.3 percent of households were married couples with children under 18, which was less than for the state overall (23.3 percent). Single parent families in Jackson County (11.2%) were more than Missouri (9.1%).
Families and Children. Median family income for Jackson County was $48,435 in 2005 compared to $46,044 for Missouri.
The 2005 poverty rate in Jackson County was 14.1 percent which was higher than that of the state (13.6%). The poverty rate among children (20.4%) was higher than that of the state (19.5%).
The annual Kids Count reports Jackson County indicators on children were ranked 77 out of 114 counties and St. Louis City in the state in 2006. Kids Count indicators show that low birth weight infants decreased to 8.6 percent and births to teenage mothers were 60.9 per 1,000 girls. The area also reported child abuse cases at a rate of 33.8 per 1,000 for 2006 compared to 32.7 per 1,000 statewide.
Jobs by Sector. The October 2007 unemployment rate was 6.1 percent compared with 5.2 percent statewide. There were 457,662 jobs in Jackson County in 2006. Health care and social assistance accounts for more than 9.8 percent of the total jobs (44,877). Retail Trade (44,779), Local government (37,421) and Professional and technical services (34,298) are the next highest categories.
Agriculture. The 2002 Census of Agriculture reported 807 farms in the county with total sales of about $21.343 million and production expenses of $21.576 million. There was $-0.233 million in net farm income reported in the county with 5.2 percent of all farms having sales of $100,000 or more and 72.5 percent of farms with less than $10,000 in sales.
County Income Patterns. Jackson County generated over $22,237.709 million of total personal income in 2005. Per capita income was $33,585 compared with $31,231 for Missouri. Significant sources of income were:
Commuting. In Jackson County, 24.9 percent of workers commute outside their home county to work in 2000. Statewide, 33.4 percent of workers traveled between 30 and 60 minutes to work, while in Jackson County 28.6 percent traveled as long. At the same time, 3.5 percent of workers traveled more than 60 minutes to work compared with 5.4 percent statewide.
Educational Attainment. In Jackson County, about 23.4 percent of residents aged 25 years and over (100,132) were college graduates in 2000 compared with 21.6 percent statewide. An additional 127,890 residents 25 and over in Jackson County had some college education (29.9%) compared with 27.0 percent of all Missourians of that age.
The high school graduation rate in Jackson County (85.0%) in 2006 as reported by the Missouri Dept. of Education and Secondary Education was less than the state (85.8%).
Disabilities. There were 44,031 persons age 65 and older in the county who reported having a disability in 2000 (56.3%). The corresponding Missouri rate is 55.3 percent. Among the working age population (aged 16 to 64) in Jackson County 52,031 reported some work disability, a rate of 12.4 percent compared to a state rate of 10.8 percent.
Health Status Indicators. In 2003, over 16.5 percent of Jackson County residents report their health was “fair or poor” compared with 16.9 percent statewide. While . percent of Missourians reported having no health coverage, the percent without coverage in Jackson County was estimated to be 13.1 percent. State health data report the top two prevalence indicators for the county were High Cholesterol (35 years and older)(48.6%) and Asthma(12.9%). Missouri reported 37.1 percent and 10.8 percent in those same categories.
Age-adjusted Mortality. The top age-adjusted mortality rates (per 100,000) for Jackson County are Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (51.3) and Diabetes (26.5). Missouri's rates were 46.0 and at 24.1 respectively.
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