Hillsdale County, Michigan

Hillsdale County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 46,527. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,572 (607 ). 1,551 km² (599 sq mi) of it is land and 22 km² (8 sq mi) of it (1.37%) is water. Hillsdale is the only county in Michigan to border two other states.

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 46,527 people, 17,335 households, and 12,550 families residing in the county. The was 30/km² (78/sq mi). There were 20,189 housing units at an average density of 13/km² (34/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.56%, 0.43% or , 0.35% , 0.33% , 0.01% , 0.34% from , and 0.98% from two or more races. 1.20% of the population were or  of any race. 97.0% spoke, 1.2% and 1.2%  as their first language.

There were 17,335 households out of which 32.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.90% were living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,396, and the median income for a family was $45,895. Males had a median income of $35,349 versus $23,718 for females. The for the county was $18,255. About 5.20% of families and 8.20% of the population were below the, including 8.80% of those under age 18 and 8.60% 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, villages and townships.

Hillsdale County Elected Officials

 * : Neal A. Brady
 * : Michael Nye
 * : Stanley W. Burchardt
 * : Thomas C. Mohr
 * : Gary A. Leninger
 * : Bambi L. Somerlott
 * : Bill Word
 * : Michael Lodzinski


 * Board of Commissioners:
 * District One: Parke D. Hayes
 * District Two: Alan E. Ringenberg
 * District Three: Robert Null
 * District Four: Maxine Vanlerberg
 * District Five: Brad Densmore
 * District Six: Ken Lautzenheiser, Chairman of the Board
 * District Seven: Andy Welden

Climate
Hillsdale County experiences four distinct seasons. July is the hottest month with an average high of 82 degrees (f) & January the coldest month with an average high of 29 degrees (f). June is the wettest month with 4.29 inches of rain on average.