Van Buren County, Michigan

Van Buren County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 76,263. The is. It is part of the.

It was named for, before he became president. Van Buren was and later  under , making it one of Michigan's "".

Much of the county is farmland dotted with small towns. Areas near are becoming suburbanized. Many of the inland lakes are ringed with homes, either by people living year-round or cottagers, generally people who live the rest of the time in. Tourism is a major industry in the areas near Lake Michigan.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,824 (1,090 ). 1,582 km² (611 sq mi) of it is land and 1,241 km² (479 sq mi) of it (43.97%) is water.

Parks, preserves, natural areas

 * Dunes Parkway, an 84 acre (340,000 m²)preserve of dunes in
 * Jeptha Lake Fen Preserve, a 49 acre (200,000 m²) preserve in
 * , a multi-use trail converted from old rail line runs from to . Also the.
 * , 400 acres (1.6 km²) in
 * Ross Preserve, a 1,449 acre (5.9 km²) preserve of coastal plain marsh in owned by
 * Van Buren County - Northpoint land - high dunes on 17 acres on Lake Michigan, north of Van Buren State Park
 * Van Buren County - Northpoint land - high dunes on 17 acres on Lake Michigan, north of Van Buren State Park

Major highways

 * , a long spur along Lake Michigan from I-94 near to  in.
 * , a long spur along Lake Michigan from I-94 near to  in.

Adjacent counties

 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - southwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 76,263 people, 27,982 households, and 20,314 families residing in the county. The was 48/km² (125/sq mi). There were 33,975 housing units at an average density of 21/km² (56/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 87.92%, 5.25% or , 0.92% , 0.30% , 0.01% , 3.43% from , and 2.17% from two or more races. 7.39% of the population were or  of any race. 91.5% spoke and 7.0%  as their first language.

There were 27,982 households out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.40% were non-families. 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.10% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,365, and the median income for a family was $45,824. Males had a median income of $35,317 versus $25,063 for females. The for the county was $17,878. About 7.80% of families and 11.10% of the population were below the, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 10.90% 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.

Van Buren County elected officials

 * : Juris Kaps
 * : Dale R. Gribler
 * : Tina Leary
 * : Karen Makay
 * : Mark A. Smith
 * : Joe Parman
 * : Donald Gilchrist

(information as of October 2006)

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