Gratiot County, Michigan

Gratiot County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 42,285. The is, although its most populous city is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,480 (572 ). 1,477 km² (570 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.26%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (northeast)
 * (northwest)
 * (east)
 * (west)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 42,285 people, 14,501 households, and 10,397 families residing in the county. The was 29/km² (74/sq mi). There were 15,516 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (27/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.01%, 3.72% or , 0.55% , 0.34% , 0.02% , 1.76% from , and 1.60% from two or more races. 4.43% of the population were or  of any race. 96.1% spoke and 2.7%  as their first language.

There were 14,501 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 11.60% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 108.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,262, and the median income for a family was $43,954. Males had a median income of $32,442 versus $22,333 for females. The for the county was $17,118. About 7.30% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the, including 11.70% of those under age 18 and 9.20% 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.



Gratiot County elected officials

 * : Keith J. Kushion
 * : Robert L. Beracy
 * : Carol A. Vernon
 * : Mary Sullivan
 * : Janet Davis
 * : Brian Denman

(information as of September 2005)