Runaway Bay, Texas

For other uses of the name, see Runaway Bay (disambiguation).

Runaway Bay, Texas
City
Location of Runaway Bay, Texas Location of Runaway Bay, Texas
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Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Wise
Area
• Total	6.5 sq mi (16.8 km2)
• Land	2.3 sq mi (6.0 km2)
• Water	4.2 sq mi (10.9 km2)
Elevation	912 ft (278 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,286
• Density	559.1/sq mi (214.3/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	76426
Area code(s)	940
FIPS code	48-63782
GNIS feature ID	1388609

Runaway Bay is a city in Wise County, Texas, lying at the Southern end of Lake Bridgeport. The population was 1,286 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Runaway Bay is located at (33.172921, -97.878916).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.5 square miles (16.8 km²), of which, 2.3 square miles (6.0 km²) of it is land and 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²) of it (64.46%) is water.

The city is built around an 18-hole golf course and the city's main water tower resembles a golf ball on a tee.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1980	504		—
1990	700		38.9%
2000	1,104		57.7%
2010	1,286		16.5%
Est. 2014	1,381		7.4%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,104 people, 492 households, and 348 families residing in the city. The population density was 478.5 people per square mile (184.5/km²). There were 588 housing units at an average density of 254.9/sq mi (98.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.28% White, 0.45% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.

There were 492 households out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.69.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.9% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 31.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,795, and the median income for a family was $57,656. Males had a median income of $34,688 versus $25,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,152. About 2.2% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Golf course

The Club at Runaway Bay is an 18-hole golf course and club house designed by Leon Howard and established in 1969. It is Par 72, length 7032 yards and has a course rating of 73.1. It was featured in the 2008-09 edition of Golf Digest as one of the "Best Places to Play."

Alleged chupacabra sighting

On January 17, 2010, the golf course was the subject of a chupacabra sighting in which the unidentified dead animal was described as a "brown, earth-colored creature is hairless with oversized canines and elongated padded feet with inch-long toes tapered with sharp, curved claws. The creature also had long hind legs." Upon investigation, a biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department identified the animal as a hairless raccoon.

Education

The City of Runaway Bay is served by the Bridgeport Independent School District.