Missaukee County, Michigan

Missaukee County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 14,478. The is.

History
Missaukee County was organized in 1871, and is named after a prominent chief, Nesaukee, whose name means Large mouth of the river.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,486 (574 ). 1,468 km² (567 sq mi) of it is land and 18 km² (7 sq mi) of it (1.23%) is water.

Major highways

 * [[Image:M-42.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:M-55.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:M-66.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 14,478 people, 5,450 households, and 4,043 families residing in the county. The was 10/km² (26/sq mi). There were 8,621 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (15/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.50%, 0.20% or , 0.50% , 0.24% , 0.37% from , and 1.19% from two or more races. 1.17% of the population were or  of any race. 97.9% spoke and 1.1%  as their first language.

There were 5,450 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.10% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 27.20% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,224, and the median income for a family was $39,057. Males had a median income of $30,565 versus $20,905 for females. The for the county was $16,072. About 8.20% of families and 10.70% of the population were below the, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 10.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics
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.

Missaukee County elected officials

 * : William J. Donnelly, Jr.
 * : James Bosscher
 * /: Carolyn Flore
 * : Barbara Hancock
 * Road Commissioners: Jack McGee; Larry Norman; Lonny Lutke

(information as of September 2005)

Election history
Missaukee County is one of Michigan's most strongly counties. In, Republican received 68.1% in Missaukee County, his second highest percentage among Michigan's 83 counties. In 2002, Republican gubernatorial nominee received 66.1% in Missaukee, which also ranked it as the #2 most Republican county in the state.