Luce County, Michigan

Luce County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 7,024. The is. In 2002, Newberry was designated as the capital of Michigan by the State Legislature. The county is named after former.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,952 (1,912 ). 2,339 km² (903 sq mi) of it is land and 2,613 km² (1,009 sq mi) of it (52.76%) is water.

Major highways

 * [[Image:M-28.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:M-117.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:M-123.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 7,024 people, 2,481 households, and 1,739 families residing in the county. The was 3/km² (8/sq mi). There were 4,008 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (4/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 82.84%, 7.52% or , 5.54% , 0.36% , 0.03% , 0.47% from , and 3.25% from two or more races. 1.75% of the population were or  of any race. 20.2% were of, 10.2% , 10.1% , 7.8% and 7.7%  ancestry. 97.0% spoke and 2.3%  as their first language.

There were 2,481 households out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.40% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 124.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 132.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,031, and the median income for a family was $36,359. Males had a median income of $31,427 versus $21,101 for females. The for the county was $16,828. About 12.00% of families and 14.90% of the population were below the, including 20.10% of those under age 18 and 8.40% 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.

Luce County elected officials

 * : Peter Tazelaar II
 * : Kevin R. Erickson
 * /: Kathy S. Mahar
 * : Deborah Johnson

(information as of September 2005)