Mason County, Michigan

Mason County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 28,274. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,216 (1,242 ). 1,282 km² (495 sq mi) of it is land and 1,934 km² (747 sq mi) of it (60.13%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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 * (south)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 28,274 people, 11,406 households, and 7,881 families residing in the county. The was 22/km² (57/sq mi). There were 16,063 housing units at an average density of 13/km² (32/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 95.84%, 0.73% or , 0.78% , 0.28% , 0.02% , 0.82% from , and 1.53% from two or more races. 3.01% of the population were or  of any race. 96.0% spoke and 2.2%  as their first language.

There were 11,406 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.40% were living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,704, and the median income for a family was $41,654. Males had a median income of $33,873 versus $22,616 for females. The for the county was $17,713. About 8.20% of families and 11.00% of the population were below the, including 16.50% of those under age 18 and 7.00% 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.

Mason County elected officials

 * : Susan Kasley
 * : Laude Hartrum III
 * : Jim Riffle
 * : Timothy D. Hansen
 * : Diane L. Stark
 * : David A. Hasenbank
 * : Kenneth L. Ross
 * by district:
 * District 1: Neil Russell
 * District 2: Michael Schneider
 * District 3: Bob Erickson
 * District 4: Jim Pinkerton
 * District 5: Jerome Rybicki
 * District 6: Tom Posma (Chair)
 * District 7: Ron Pedersen
 * District 8: Ron Sanders
 * District 9: Jeffrey LaPlante
 * District 10: Dr. Lewis Squires

(information as of September 2005)

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