In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting-off of Ontario County. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne counties. Tioga County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County in 1791. Tioga County was at this time much larger than the present county, also including the present 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 is water. Tioga County is in southwest New York State, west of Binghamton and directly north of the border with Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River flows into Pennsylvania from this county. The county is considered part of the Southern Tier region of New York State. The highest elevation is an unnamed 1,994-foot hill in the county's northern corner.
As of the census of 2000, there were 51,784 people, 19,725 households, and 14,320 families living in the county. The population density was 100 people per square mile. There were 21,410 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97.52% White, 0.54% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic 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 couplesliving 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 for the county was $18,673. About 6.0% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over. There were 8784 men of military age residing in the county.
