Today, the population in Floyd County looks much different than it did during its formative years. With a population of 77.3 thousand people , only 4.24 thousand were born outside the United States. The majority of the population is white (non-Hispanic) at 87.8% of the population. 5.09% identify as African American and 3.28% identify as Hispanic (“Floyd County, IN”, n.d.). The median age of the population is 38.8 which is highly comparable to the state and national statistics. 51% of the population is female. There are 28,5444 households with 49% of the population being married (“Census Profile”, n.d.).
Floyd County is no longer the wealthiest county in Indiana, the average median household wage of $64,468 is rather comparable to the national average of $65,712 (“Floyd County, IN”, n.d.) Per person the average wage is $31,598, which is about 90% of the national average (“Census Profile”, n.d.). Ben-Ner and Van Hoomissen (1992) reported that wealth is an important determinant for the size of all sectors, with wealthier communities having more for-profit as well as nonprofit entities. (Grønbjerg & Paarlberg (2001) p. 689). The economy of Floyd County employs roughly 38.8K people with the largest industries being manufacturing, health care and retail trade. 9.82% of people live below the poverty line in Indiana with the largest number of individuals being females between the ages of 25 and 30. It is still a lower rate than the national average of 12.3% (“Floyd County, IN", n.d.).
Largely, the population of Floyd County is conservative. In the 2016 election, 57.3% of the vote went to Donald Trump while 37.3% went to Hillary Clinton. Todd Young and Mike Braun, both republicans, are the current senators from the county. Voter turnout in 2020 was comparable to the national average at 67.69%. Local elections vary in party, but the majority do reflect a conservative majority in 2018 county elections (“Floyd County, IN", n.d.).
The majority of the population has health coverage in Floyd County at 95.2%. 56.9% are on employee plans while 26.2% are on government plans 10.8% are not on group plans and 1.31% are on military or VA plans. In Floyd County, for every 1 physician there are 1,525 patients, which has increased over the years (“Census Report”, n.d.).
Education is important in Floyd County and oftentimes they credit themselves with having the best school district in the state of Indiana. 92% of the population has a high school degree or higher and 28.6% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Floyd County is unique because it does have an IU university. In 2019, the university awarded 1,033 degrees. The median in-state tuition cost is $6,895 with a majority of the student population being female. The majority of degrees awarded are in business (“Census Report”, n.d.).