Van Buren County, Michigan

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Van Buren County, Michigan
Map
Location in the state of Michigan
Michigan's location in the USA
Statistics
Founded	1829
Seat	Paw Paw
Area - Total - Land - Water	1,090 sq mi (2,823 km²) 611 sq mi (1,582 km²) 479 sq mi (1,241 km²), 43.97%
Population - (2000) - Density	76,263 124/sq mi (48/km²)
Website: www.vbco.org

Van Buren County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 76,263. The county seat is Paw Paw ⁶. It is part of the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI MSA.

It was named for Martin Van Buren, before he became president. Van Buren was U.S. Secretary of State and later Vice President under President Andrew Jackson, making it one of Michigan's "Cabinet counties".

Much of the county is farmland dotted with small towns. Areas near Kalamazoo County 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 Chicago. Tourism is a major industry in the areas near Lake Michigan.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Government
- 3.1 Van Buren County elected officials
4 Cities, villages, and townships
5 External links

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

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

I-94
I-196, a long spur along Lake Michigan from I-94 near Benton Harbor to I-96 in Grand Rapids.
US 31
M-40
M-43
M-51
M-140
M-152
A-2

Allegan County - northeast
Kalamazoo County - east
St. Joseph County - southeast
Cass County - south
Berrien County - southwest

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 76,263 people, 27,982 households, and 20,314 families residing in the county. The population density 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% White, 5.25% Black or African American, 0.92% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 3.43% from other races, and 2.17% from two or more races. 7.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 91.5% spoke English and 7.0% Spanish 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 married couples 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 per capita income for the county was $17,878. About 7.80% of families and 11.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 10.90% of those age 65 or over.

Van Buren County Courthouse

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.

Prosecuting Attorney: Juris Kaps
Sheriff: Dale R. Gribler
County Clerk: Tina Leary
County Treasurer: Karen Makay
Register of Deeds: Mark A. Smith
Drain Commissioner: Joe Parman
County Surveyor: Donald Gilchrist

(information as of October 2006)

Van Buren County Government Information

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State of Michigan
Lansing (capital)

Topics

Governors · Lieutenant Governors · Legislature · Supreme Court · History · Michiganders

Regions

Upper Peninsula	Copper Country · Keweenaw Peninsula
Lower Peninsula	Central Michigan (or Mid-Michigan) · Flint/Tri-Cities · Michiana · Northern Michigan · Southeast Michigan (including Metro Detroit) · The Thumb · Western Michigan
MSA	Toledo (MSA extension into state)