Osceola County, Michigan

Osceola County is a in the  of. As of the, the population was 23,197. The is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,484 (573 ). 1,466 km² (566 sq mi) of it is land and 18 km² (7 sq mi) of it (1.24%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 23,197 people, 8,861 households, and 6,415 families residing in the county. The was 16/km² (41/sq mi). There were 12,853 housing units at an average density of 9/km² (23/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.51%, 0.35% or , 0.50% , 0.22% , 0.02% , 0.20% from , and 1.21% from two or more races. 0.99% of the population were or  of any race. 96.8% spoke, 1.1% and 1.0%  as their first language.

There were 8,861 households out of which 32.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.10% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,102, and the median income for a family was $39,205. Males had a median income of $29,837 versus $22,278 for females. The for the county was $15,632. About 9.50% of families and 12.70% of the population were below the, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 10.30% 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.

Osceola County elected officials

 * : Sandra Marvin
 * : James A. Crawford
 * : Karen J . Bluhm
 * : Carol Halladay
 * : Nancy Crawford
 * : Fay Wilson
 * : Bill Sikkema

(information as of September 2005)

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