Leelanau County, Michigan

Leelanau County is a in the  of. It is part of the. As of the, the population was 21,119. The currently is the unincorporated community of. However, on, , county voters approved a proposal to move the county seat to , closer to the county's geographic center. A new governmental facility will be built on 45 acres (180,000 m²) of county-owned land one mile east of the unincorporated village of Lake Leelanau, where a new county law enforcement center already is under construction.

A substantial portion of lies within the county's borders, including  and  Islands.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 6,559 (2,532 ). 903 km² (348 sq mi) of it is land and 5,656 km² (2,184 sq mi) of it (86.24%) is water. The county has the second-highest proportion of water area of any county in the United States, behind only. is the county's largest body of inland water, formed from the dam near Leland. , located within the boundaries of, is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

Adjacent counties

 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 21,119 people, 8,436 households, and 6,217 families residing in the county. The was 23/km² (61/sq mi). There were 13,297 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (38/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.52%, 0.25% or , 3.66% , 0.24% , 0.02% , 1.34% from , and 0.97% from two or more races. 3.29% of the population were or  of any race. 95.1% spoke and 2.9%  as their first language.

There were 8,436 households out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.60% were living together, 7.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 22.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,062, and the median income for a family was $53,228. Males had a median income of $35,719 versus $25,778 for females. The for the county was $24,686. About 3.30% of families and 5.40% of the population were below the, including 6.40% of those under age 18 and 4.50% 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.

Leelenau County recently completed construction of a new jail.

Leelanau County elected officials

 * : Joseph T. Hubbell
 * : Michael Oltersdorf
 * : Michelle L. Crocker
 * : Vicki A. Kilway
 * : Barbara J. Kirt
 * : Steven R. Christensen

(information as of September 2005)

Cities, villages, and townships

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 * (partial)
 * , unincorporated
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 * , unincorporated
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 * , village
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