Whitley County was organized effective April 1, 1839. The county was named in honor of Colonel William Whitley of Lincoln County, Kentucky. The population of the county in 1840 was 1,237 and had grown to 30,707 by 2000. The county covers about 324 square miles. This data obtained from www.countyhistory.com.
In 2006 Whitley had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $29,812. This PCPI ranked 30th in the state and was 92 percent of the state average, $32,288, and 81 percent of the national average, $36,714. The 2006 PCPI reflected an increase of 4.6 percent from 2005. The 2005-2006 state change was 4.5 percent and the national change was 5.6 percent. In 1996 the PCPI of Whitley was $22,126 and ranked 21st in the state. The 1996-2006 average annual growth rate of PCPI was 3.0 percent. The average annual growth rate for the state was 3.7 percent and for the nation was 4.3 percent. This data provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis BEAR Facts. www.bea.gov/bea/regional/bearfacts