Branch County, Michigan

Branch County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 45,787. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,345 (519 ). 1,314 km² (507 sq mi) of it is land and 31 km² (12 sq mi) of it (2.33%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (west)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 45,787 people, 16,349 households, and 11,575 families residing in the county. The was 35/km² (90/sq mi). There were 19,822 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (39/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.37%, 2.63% or , 0.47% , 0.42% , 0.02% , 1.39% from , and 1.69% from two or more races. 2.98% of the population were or  of any race. 94.2% spoke, 2.8% and 1.9%  as their first language.

There were 16,349 households out of which 33.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.00% were living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.20% were non-families. 24.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,760, and the median income for a family was $44,777. Males had a median income of $32,098 versus $22,579 for females. The for the county was $17,552. About 6.00% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the, including 12.70% of those under age 18 and 7.20% 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.

Branch County elected officials

 * : Kirk Kashian
 * : Warren Cannon
 * : Teresa Kubasiak
 * : Sandra Thatcher
 * : Nancy Hutchins
 * : Michael Hard
 * : Edward R. Reed

(information as of September 2005)