Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Grand Traverse County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 77,654, with a 2006 estimate of 84,952. The is.

Grand Traverse County is part of the, which also includes , , and counties.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,557 (601 ). 1,205 km² (465 sq mi) of it is land and 352 km² (136 sq mi) of it (22.63%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

History
Grand Traverse County was established by an act of the state legislature on April 7, 1851. The first permanent settlement in the county was the mission now known as.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 77,654 people, 30,396 households, and 20,730 families residing in the county. The was 64/km² (167/sq mi). There were 34,842 housing units at an average density of 29/km² (75/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 96.51%, 0.40% or , 0.93% , 0.49% , 0.03% , 0.54% from , and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.49% of the population were or  of any race. 96.4% spoke and 1.6%  as their first language.

There were 30,396 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,169, and the median income for a family was $51,211. Males had a median income of $34,796 versus $24,139 for females. The for the county was $22,111. About 3.80% of families and 5.90% of the population were below the, including 5.30% of those under age 18 and 5.90% 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.

Grand Traverse County elected officials
(information as of September 2006)
 * : Al Schneider
 * : Scott Fewins
 * : Linda Coburn
 * : William Rokos
 * : Peggy Haines
 * : Kevin McElyea
 * : Robert Mitchell

Townships

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