De Kalb is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,769 people, 725 households, and 477 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,349.1 people per square mile. There were 853 housing units at an average density of 650.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 66.70% White, 30.81% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.68% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.43% of the population. There were 725 households, out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples living together, 19.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 21.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 25.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 70.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,713, and the median income for a family was $32,212. Males had a median income of $27,955 versus $20,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,360. About 25.3% of families and 28.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.3% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of De Kalb is served by the De Kalb Independent School District. Communities Hubbard and Dalby Springs lie south of De Kalb on US Highway 259 and most children attend the De Kalb ISD school system; however Hubbard does have its own small school district serving Pre-K through 8th grades. Some children elect to attend Hubbard in their formative years.
On December 31, 1985, at approximately 5:14 pm, a Douglas DC-3 private aircraft, N711Y, owned by Ricky Nelson, with a pilot, co-pilot, and seven passengers, including Nelson, his fiancée, and five members of his band, crashed in a wooded area near DeKalb. The plane was on a flight from Guntersville, Alabama, to Dallas, Texas, where Nelson was scheduled to appear at a New Year's Eve performance. All seven passengers were killed in the accident when the plane caught fire. The pilot and co-pilot were able to escape and survived.
Notable people
Terrance Ganaway was an American football running back for the St. Louis Rams.
Luke Walker is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played between 1965 and 1974 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers.
De Kalb was the birthplace of Bonanza star Dan Blocker, who played the character "Hoss Cartwright" on the NBCtelevisionWestern series.
