Floyd County was established in 1854 and was named for Sergeant Charles Floyd of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who died in 1804 near what is now Sioux City, Iowa, and who was the only member to die on the Expedition. The first school in the county was taught at Nora Springs in 1854. The second was opened at Charles City, the third at Floyd. Twelve years later there were 54 schools in the county, in September 1875, there were 100 school-houses in Floyd County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
The 2010 census recorded a population of 16,303 in the county, with a population density of. There were 7,526 housing units, of which 6,886 were occupied.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,900 people, 6,828 households, and 4,711 families residing in the county. The population density was 34 people per square mile. There were 7,317 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98.11% White, 0.23% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,828 households out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.70% were married couplesliving together, 7.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.00% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.92. In the county, the population was spread out with 25.10% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,237, and the median income for a family was $41,133. Males had a median income of $30,285 versus $20,867 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,091. About 6.50% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.00% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Floyd County. †county seat
Rank
City/Town/etc.
Municipal type
Population
1
†Charles City
City
7,652
2
Nashua
City
1,663
3
Nora Springs
City
1,431
4
Greene
City
1,130
5
Rockford
City
860
6
Rudd
City
369
7
Floyd
City
335
8
Marble Rock
City
307
9
Colwell
City
73
10
Roseville
CDP
49
Politics
Prior to 1988, Floyd County was strongly Republican in presidential elections. In only four elections from 1896 to 1984 did a Republican presidential candidate fail to win the county. Starting with the 1988 election, the county consistently backed Democratic Party presidential candidates up until the 2012 election. In the most recent presidential election of 2016, the county swung 29.5 points Republican with Donald Trump winning the county by over 14 points after Barack Obama won the county by a similar margin 4 years earlier.
