Macomb County, Michigan

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 570 square miles (1,476 km²)—480 square miles (1,244 km²) of it is land and 89 square miles (231 km²) of it (15.68%) is water.

Far northern parts of the county, such as Richmond and Armada can be considered to be in the Thumb region.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Two Native American tribes had over 1000 people who self-identified with the tribe in Macomb County in 2000. 1781 county residents indicated that they were Cherokee on the census form. 1038 did the same for being Chippewa.^[1] This is the tribe known as the Ojibwa. It should be kept in mind that whether someone marked "Ojibwa", "Chippewa" or "Anishabaag" it was all grouped together in the reported counts.

Among Asians groups, Macomb County has six with over 1000 people. The most numerous were the 5713 Asian Indians. Filipinos came in a close second numbering 4155, this includes many children who are Filipino on their mother's side and European-American on their father's side. Chinese number 2489. Koreans numbered 1853, while Vietnamese numbered 1557. There were 1103, the only Asian group without a nation to be so recognized.^[1] It should be remembered that people from Iran and further west are classed as whites.

There were 309,203 households out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were married couples living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 31.50% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $52,102, and the median income for a family was $62,816. Males had a median income of $48,303 versus $30,215 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,446. About 4.00% of families and 5.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 6.40% of those age 65 or over.

The years 2000-2005 saw the African American population in Macomb County more than double. This growth largely resulted from an exodus of African Americans from Detroit. By 2005 Census estimates for Macomb County showed it was 5.6% African American, meaning that the growth of the African-American population in the county had been well over 100% in the last 5 years. The percentage of Asians had risen to 2.9%, largely fueled by the exodus of the eastside Detroit Hmong population northward into Warren. The American Community Survey showed 1.5% of Macomb County's population reporting two or more races.

According to the 2006 American Community Survey the average family size is 3.15. The population of 25 and over is 571,463. 86.9% of that population has graduating from High school, 21% of that population has a Bachelor's degree or higher. About 14.3 of that population is disabled. 12.5% of Macomb's population can speak another language at home.

History

The Ojibwa were the first settlers in the area. The first Europeans arrived in the area during the 17th century. A Moravian colony was established in the county in the late 18th Century. They included French fur trappers and missionaries. In addition to the original French and English, later settlers included Germans, Belgians and others who came directly from Europe.

Macomb County was formally organized on January 15, 1818 as the third county in the Michigan territory. At that time, it covered a much larger area than it does today. In 1819 and 1820, large portions of the county were removed to form the counties of Oakland, Lapeer, Genesee and St. Clair. The county was named in honor of General Alexander Macomb a highly decorated veteran of the War of 1812.

The county gained fame in the 1980s and '90s as a bellwether of state and national politics. Macomb's large cohort of working-class, socially conservative whites gave it one of the nation's most prominent concentrations of "Reagan Democrats", and outsider candidates with a conservative-populist bent have done well there in the past (e.g. George Wallace in 1968 and Pat Buchanan in 1992).

Parks and recreation

Macomb County is home to more than 130 parks covering 12,000 acres (49 km²) managed by the state, regional, county, and local government. There are four major public parks in the County - Freedom Hill County Park, Macomb Orchard Trail, Metro Beach Metropark, and Stony Creek Metropark. The county also has 31 miles of shoreline and over 100 marinas.

Government

The county government operates the jail, 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 — police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. — are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

In May 2008, Macomb County voters approved the inclusion of a County Executive in a new charter to be submitted to the voters by 2010.

Macomb County Elected Officials

Noted people from Macomb County

Actors/Actresses

Athletes

Musicians

Other

Cities, villages, and townships

High Schools

Transportation

Air

Major Highways

	(Ford Freeway) runs east-west through Detroit and serves Ann Arbor to the west (where it continues to Chicago) and Port Huron to the northeast. The stretch of the current I-94 freeway from Ypsilanti to Detroit was one of the first American limited-access freeways. Henry Ford built it to link his factories at Willow Run and Dearborn during World War II. It was called the Willow Run Expressway.
	(Walter Reuther Freeway) runs east-west from the junction of I-96 and I-275, providing a route through the northern suburbs of Detroit.
	M-3 Gratiot Avenue (M-3) is a major road that runs from Port Huron to downtown Detroit.
	M-19
	M-29
	M-53 (Christopher Columbus Freeway from Sterling Heights to Washington), more commonly known as the Van Dyke Expressway or Van Dyke Freeway. Continues as Van Dyke Road or Van Dyke Avenue north to Port Austin and south through Warren to Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.
	M-59 (Veterans Memorial Freeway from Utica to Pontiac), continues east as Hall Road to Clinton Township and west as various surface roads to I-96 near Howell
	M-97
	M-102 8 Mile Road, known by many due to the film 8 Mile, forms the dividing line between Detroit on the south and the suburbs of Macomb and Oakland counties on the north. It is also known as Baseline Road outside of Detroit, because it coincides with the baseline used in surveying Michigan; that baseline is also the boundary for a number of Michigan counties as well as the boundary for Illinois and Wisconsin. Designated as M-102 for much of its length in Wayne County.