Tioga County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,455. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Owego. Tioga County is part of the

Binghamton metropolitan area The Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area, also called Greater Binghamton or the Triple Cities, is a region of southern Upstate New York in the Northeastern United States, anchored by Binghamton. The MSA encompasses Broome and Tioga count ...

. The county is part of the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York, Upstate region of New York (state), New York State, geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania. Definitions of the region vary wide ...

region of the state. The county's name is a corruption of

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

''De-yoh-ho-gah'', meaning "at the forks" or "where it forks."

History

In 1789, as the number of residents increased in the region, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the founding of Ontario County from some of its territory. The area taken from Montgomery County at that time was much larger than the present Ontario County, also including present-day Allegany, Cattaraugus,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne counties. In 1791, Tioga County was founded by another division of territory from Montgomery County. At the time of its foundation, Tioga County included present-day Broome and Chemung counties and parts of Chenango and Schuyler counties. Tioga County was reduced in size in 1798 by the splitting-off of Chemung County (which also included part of the present Schuyler County and by the combination of a portion with a portion of Herkimer County to create Chenango County. In 1806, it was further reduced by the splitting-off of Broome County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) of which is water. Tioga County is in southwest New York State, west of Binghamton and directly north of the border with

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

flows into Pennsylvania from this county. The county is considered part of the

region of New York State. The highest elevation is an unnamed hill in the county's northern corner. The lowest is on the state line where the Susquehanna flows into Pennsylvania.

Adjacent counties

* Cortland County - northeast * Broome County - east * Susquehanna County,

- southeast * Bradford County,

- south * Chemung County - west * Tompkins County - northwest

Major highways

* * *

New York State Route 17C * NY-38

New York State Route 38 * NY-96

New York State Route 96 * NY-96B

New York State Route 96B

Demographics

2020 Census

2010

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 51,125 people living in the county, with 22,203 housing units, of these 20,350 (91.3%) occupied, 1,853 (8.3%) vacant. The population density was . The racial makeup of the county was 96.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.3% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.

2000

As of the

of 2000, there were 51,784 people, 19,725 households, and 14,320 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 21,410 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.52%

, 0.54%

, 0.22% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.21% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.98% of the population. 16.6% were of German, 16.4% English, 14% Irish, 9.6% Italian, 5% Polish and 4% Dutch ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.9% spoke English and 1.6% Spanish as their first language. There were 19,725 households, out of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.40% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.00% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $40,266, and the median income for a family was $46,509. Males had a median income of $32,161 versus $23,653 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $18,673. About 6.0% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over. There were 8,784 men of military age residing in the county.

Communities

Towns

* Barton *

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

* Candor * Newark Valley * Nichols * Owego * Richford * Spencer * Tioga