| Fort Kent, Maine |
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| aroostook county, maine | |
| towns in maine | |
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The town is economically and culturally linked to the (official statistics unavailable), as Fort Kent has the closest hospital for many Canadian residents. Until recently, it was significantly cheaper to live on the Canadian side. However, for those working on the American side (and receiving employer paid health insurance) there are major income tax savings to be had by living in the USA. Despite free trade ( NAFTA ), Canadian customs collects both federal (7%) and provincial (8%) sales taxes as well as duties (which can be as high as 15% on cloths made in China, for example) which significantly discourages legal cross-border shopping. Groceries (usually without sales tax) and gas are popular purchases for Canadian residents shopping in Fort Kent as they are significantly cheaper there. Fort Kent residents cross over to the Canadian side to take advantage of cheaper labor costs (on haircuts, for example). Fort Kent is artificially isolated from the nearest major cities ( Quebec City and Montreal ) by the land-owner cooperative known as North Maine Woods that bars "shortcut" international traffic on what would be a significantly shorter trip through western Maine. Aroostook County residents are therefore forced to go north through New Brunswick to go to the province of Quebec , their western neighbor. Fort Kent hosts major dog sled and cross county skiing events in the winter. GEOGRAPHY According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 143.4 Km&2 (55.3 Mi&2 ). 140.3 km&2 (54.2 mi&2) of it is land and 3.1 km&2 (1.2 mi&2) of it is water. The total area is 2.15% water. DEMOGRAPHICS As of the Census 2 of 2000, there were 4,233 people, 1,735 households, and 1,106 families residing in the town. The Population Density was 30.2/km&2 (78.2/mi&2). There were 1,824 housing units at an average density of 13.0/km&2 (33.7/mi&2). The racial makeup of the town was 96.95% White , 0.38% Black or African American , 0.76% Native American , 0.87% Asian , 0.00% Pacific Islander , 0.28% from Other Races , and 0.76% from two or more races. 0.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 1,735 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were Married Couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90. In the town the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $29,547, and the median income for a family was $41,616. Males had a median income of $35,325 versus $19,146 for females. The Per Capita Income for the town was $16,403. 14.5% of the population and 9.5% of families were below the Poverty Line . 13.7% of those under the age of 18 and 18.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. ''See also'': Fort Kent (CDP), Maine EXTERNAL LINKS |
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