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Kalamazoo County, Michigan | |
Location in the state of Michigan | |
Michigan's location in the U.S. | |
Founded | May 7, 1830 |
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Seat | Kalamazoo |
Area - Total - Land - Water |
580.18 sq mi (1,503 km²) 561.86 sq mi (1,455 km²) 18.32 sq mi (47 km²), 3.16% |
Population - (2020) - Density |
261,670 425/sq mi (164/km²) |
Website | www.kalcounty.com |
Kalamazoo County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 261,670. The county seat is Kalamazoo[1]. It is part of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Area.
History[]
See, Etymology of Kalamazoo for detail on the origin of the name. See also, List of Michigan county name etymologies.
Geography[]
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 580.18 square miles (1,502.7 km2), of which 561.86 square miles (1,455.2 km2) (or 96.84%) is land and 18.32 square miles (47.4 km2) (or 3.16%) is water.[2]
Geographic features[]
- Kalamazoo River
- Portage River
Adjacent counties[]
- Barry County - northeast
- Allegan County - northwest
- Calhoun County - east
- Van Buren County - west
- Branch County - southeast
- St. Joseph County - south
- Cass County - southwest
Allegan County | Barry County | |||
Van Buren County | Calhoun County | |||
Kalamazoo County, Michigan | ||||
Cass County | St. Joseph County | Branch County |
Transportation[]
Air Service[]
- The Kalamazoo & Battle Creek Metro Area is served by Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport.
Highways[]
Interstates[]
US highways[]
Michigan State Trunklines[]
Intercounty Highways[]
Demographics[]
Historical populations | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1840 | 7,380 | ||
1850 | 13,179 | 78.6% | |
1860 | 24,646 | 87.0% | |
1870 | 32,054 | 30.1% | |
1880 | 34,342 | 7.1% | |
1890 | 39,273 | 14.4% | |
1900 | 44,310 | 12.8% | |
1910 | 60,327 | 36.1% | |
1920 | 71,225 | 18.1% | |
1930 | 91,368 | 28.3% | |
1940 | 100,085 | 9.5% | |
1950 | 126,707 | 26.6% | |
1960 | 169,712 | 33.9% | |
1970 | 201,550 | 18.8% | |
1980 | 212,378 | 5.4% | |
1990 | 223,411 | 5.2% | |
2000 | 238,603 | 6.8% | |
2010 | 250,331 | 4.9% |
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 238,603 people, 93,479 households, and 57,956 families residing in the county. The population density was 425 people per square mile (164/km²). There were 99,250 housing units at an average density of 177 per square mile (68/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.57% White, 9.73% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 1.83% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.27% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 2.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.3% were of German, 11.5% Dutch, 10.3% English, 8.4% Irish and 7.2% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 93.7% spoke English and 2.8% Spanish as their first language.
There were 93,479 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.70% were married couples living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.00% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 15.20% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,022, and the median income for a family was $53,953. Males had a median income of $39,611 versus $27,965 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,739. About 6.50% of families and 12.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.30% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over.
Government[]
Kalamazoo County was a bastion of the Republican Party following the Civil War. From 1884 until 1988, voters selected the Republican Party nominee all but three times–in 1912, 1936 and 1964. However, since 1992 the county has voted Democratic in national elections (through 2020). It swung particularly heavily to the Democrats after 2008, following the trend in most urban counties across the country.
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
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No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 56,823 | 39.53% | 83,686 | 58.22% | 3,237 | 2.25% |
2016 | 51,034 | 40.41% | 67,148 | 53.17% | 8,117 | 6.43% |
2012 | 52,662 | 42.58% | 69,051 | 55.83% | 1,977 | 1.60% |
2008 | 51,554 | 39.34% | 77,051 | 58.79% | 2,456 | 1.87% |
2004 | 57,147 | 47.71% | 61,462 | 51.31% | 1,174 | 0.98% |
2000 | 48,254 | 47.94% | 48,807 | 48.49% | 3,595 | 3.57% |
1996 | 40,703 | 43.70% | 45,644 | 49.01% | 6,788 | 7.29% |
1992 | 38,035 | 36.62% | 43,568 | 41.95% | 22,255 | 21.43% |
1988 | 50,205 | 55.64% | 39,457 | 43.73% | 573 | 0.64% |
1984 | 58,327 | 63.82% | 32,460 | 35.52% | 601 | 0.66% |
1980 | 48,669 | 50.90% | 34,528 | 36.11% | 12,420 | 12.99% |
1976 | 51,462 | 59.09% | 33,411 | 38.37% | 2,212 | 2.54% |
1972 | 50,405 | 58.77% | 33,324 | 38.85% | 2,041 | 2.38% |
1968 | 39,796 | 53.90% | 26,437 | 35.81% | 7,599 | 10.29% |
1964 | 27,100 | 39.79% | 40,789 | 59.89% | 215 | 0.32% |
1960 | 42,800 | 63.47% | 24,286 | 36.01% | 348 | 0.52% |
1956 | 43,305 | 70.49% | 17,808 | 28.99% | 320 | 0.52% |
1952 | 38,847 | 66.76% | 18,967 | 32.60% | 371 | 0.64% |
1948 | 23,799 | 57.32% | 16,393 | 39.49% | 1,325 | 3.19% |
1944 | 24,974 | 59.96% | 16,223 | 38.95% | 457 | 1.10% |
1940 | 25,596 | 58.68% | 17,733 | 40.65% | 293 | 0.67% |
1936 | 17,824 | 47.68% | 17,870 | 47.81% | 1,686 | 4.51% |
1932 | 18,584 | 55.01% | 13,974 | 41.36% | 1,227 | 3.63% |
1928 | 23,626 | 79.20% | 5,946 | 19.93% | 258 | 0.86% |
1924 | 18,451 | 75.31% | 3,587 | 14.64% | 2,462 | 10.05% |
1920 | 13,765 | 67.53% | 5,271 | 25.86% | 1,348 | 6.61% |
1916 | 5,951 | 41.99% | 7,164 | 50.55% | 1,058 | 7.46% |
1912 | 2,642 | 21.47% | 3,660 | 29.74% | 6,006 | 48.80% |
1908 | 6,511 | 54.63% | 4,477 | 37.57% | 930 | 7.80% |
1904 | 7,163 | 62.34% | 3,264 | 28.40% | 1,064 | 9.26% |
1900 | 6,010 | 53.62% | 4,707 | 41.99% | 492 | 4.39% |
1896 | 5,891 | 51.16% | 5,434 | 47.19% | 190 | 1.65% |
1892 | 4,968 | 50.56% | 4,018 | 40.90% | 839 | 8.54% |
1888 | 5,437 | 54.66% | 3,950 | 39.71% | 560 | 5.63% |
1884 | 4,515 | 51.78% | 3,750 | 43.00% | 455 | 5.22% |
The county government operates the jail, provides law enforcement in unincorporated areas, maintains rural roads, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The county board of commissioners controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions—fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc.—are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.
Elected officials[]
- Prosecuting Attorney: Jeffrey S. Getting (Democrat)
- Sheriff: Richard Fuller (Democrat)
- County Clerk/Register of Deeds: Meredith Place (Democrat)
- County Treasurer: Thomas Whitener (Democrat)
- Drain Commissioner: Jason Wiersma (Democrat)
- County Surveyor: Gary D. Hahn (Republican)
- County Commission or Board of Commissioners: 11 members, elected from districts (7 Democrats, 4 Republicans)
- Circuit Court: 7 judges (all non-partisan)
Cities, villages, and townships[]
Villages
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Unincorporated
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Townships
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See also[]
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kalamazoo County, Michigan
References[]
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ US Election Atlas
External links[]
- Kalamazoo County Government
- Chronology of Township, Village and City Formation
- Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography on Kalamazoo County
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This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Kalamazoo County, Michigan. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |