Clare County, Michigan

Clare County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 31,252. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,490 (575 ). 1,468 km² (567 sq mi) of it is land and 22 km² (8 sq mi) of it (1.46%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 31,252 people, 12,686 households, and 8,753 families residing in the county. The was 21/km² (55/sq mi). There were 22,229 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (39/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.36%, 0.33% or , 0.72% , 0.26% , 0.01% , 0.30% from , and 1.03% from two or more races. 1.09% of the population were or  of any race. 96.8% spoke, 1.1% and 1.0%  as their first language.

There were 12,686 households out of which 27.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.00% were non-families. 26.20% 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 2.42 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 24.90% from 25 to 44, 26.40% from 45 to 64, and 17.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,845, and the median income for a family was $33,934. Males had a median income of $30,032 versus $20,733 for females. The for the county was $15,922. About 12.10% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the, including 21.40% of those under age 18 and 10.70% 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.

Clare County elected officials

 * : Norman Gage
 * : Jeffrey Goyt
 * /: Carol A. McAulay
 * : Lois Chinn
 * : Shane Haskin
 * : Paul A. Lapham
 * Road Commissioners: Donald Armentrout; Richard Haynak; Tim Haskin

(information as of September 2005)

Cities

 * , partially