Calhoun County, Michigan

Calhoun County is a in the  of. It is part of the. As of the, the population was 137,985. The is. Calhoun County was established on, and named after , who was at the time  under , making it one of Michigan's. County government was first organized,.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,861 (718 ). 1,836 km² (709 sq mi) of it is land and 25 km² (10 sq mi) of it (1.35%) is water.

Major Highways

 * (spur into )
 * (spur into )
 * (spur into )

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - northwest
 * - east
 * - west
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - southwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 137,985 people, 54,100 households, and 36,247 families residing in the county. The was 75/km² (195/sq mi). There were 58,691 housing units at an average density of 32/km² (83/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 83.93%, 10.89% or , 0.63% , 1.11% , 0.02% , 1.29% from , and 2.13% from two or more races. 3.15% of the population were or  of any race. 95.5% spoke and 2.6%  as their first language.

There were 54,100 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.60% were living together, 13.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.00% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,918, and the median income for a family was $47,167. Males had a median income of $37,001 versus $26,464 for females. The for the county was $19,230. About 8.10% of families and 11.30% of the population were below the, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 9.00% 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.

Calhoun County elected officials

 * : John Hallacy
 * : Allen Byam
 * /: Anne B. Norlander
 * : Ann Rosenbaum Petredean
 * : Blaine VanSickle

(information as of September 2005)