According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 978 square miles (2,530 km2), of which 971 sq mi (2,510 km2) are land and 7.0 sq mi (18 km2) (0.7%) are covered by water.

[4] As of the census[10] of 2000, 14,676 people, 5,537 households, and 3,748 families were residing in the county.

About 29.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.90% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,500, and for a family was $38,685.

Males had a median income of $26,001 versus $19,620 for females.