Cass County, Michigan

Cass County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 51,104. It is part of the South Bend-Mishawaka, Indiana, metropolitan area which has a total population of 316,663. The is. The county name comes from, the under  , making Cass County one of Michigan's "".

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,317 (508 ). 1,275 km² (492 sq mi) of it is land and 42 km² (16 sq mi) of it (3.20%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (west)
 * , (southeast)
 * , (southwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 51,104 people, 19,676 households, and 14,304 families residing in the county. The was 40/km² (104/sq mi). There were 23,884 housing units at an average density of 19/km² (48/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.19%, 6.12% or , 0.82% , 0.54% , 0.01% , 1.17% from , and 2.15% from two or more races. 2.41% of the population were or  of any race. 96.4% spoke and 2.0%  as their first language.

There were 19,676 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.20% were living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 22.60% 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 2.56 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.50% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,264, and the median income for a family was $46,901. Males had a median income of $35,546 versus $24,526 for females. The for the county was $19,474. About 6.80% of families and 9.90% of the population were below the, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

Government
The county government operates the, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains, administers regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions &mdash; police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. &mdash; are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Cass County elected officials

 * : Victor Fitz
 * : Joseph M. Underwood, Jr.
 * /: Barbara K. Wilson
 * : Linda Irwin
 * : Jeff VanBelle
 * : Roger Stephenson

(information as of September 2005)