Monroe County, Michigan

Monroe County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 145,945. The is. According to the, it forms a part of the area. However, the southern portion of the county may feel more closely tied to.

The is located within the county.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,761 (680 ). 1,427 km² (551 sq mi) of it is land and 334 km² (129 sq mi) of it (18.96%) is water.

is to the east of the county. The and  flow through the county. The is the only state park in the county, though there are also numerous tracts of state-owned hunting land.

Adjacent counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 145,945 people, 53,772 households, and 39,952 families residing in the county. The was 102/km² (265/sq mi). There were 56,471 housing units at an average density of 40/km² (102/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 95.42%, 1.90% or , 0.28% , 0.47% , 0.01% , 0.62% from , and 1.31% from two or more races. 2.13% of the population were or  of any race. 96.4% spoke and 1.5%  as their first language.

There were 53,772 households out of which 36.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.70% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.40% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,743, and the median income for a family was $59,659. Males had a median income of $46,715 versus $27,421 for females. The for the county was $22,458. About 4.80% of families and 7.00% of the population were below the, including 8.10% of those under age 18 and 8.30% 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.

Monroe County elected officials

 * : William P. Nichols
 * : Tilman Crutchfield
 * /: Geri Allen
 * : Kay Sisung
 * : Daniel Stefanski

(information as of September 2005)

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