Mathews first appeared as a
census designated place the
1990 U.S. census. The median age was 40.4 years. 24.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 102.4 males age 18 and over. Of the 835 households, 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 60.0% were married-couple households, 14.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 18.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 879 housing units, of which 5.0% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. ==Government and infrastructure==