Grand Traverse County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,238, making it the most populous county in Northern Michigan. Its county seat is Traverse City. The county is part of the Traverse City metropolitan area, which also includes neighboring Benzie, Kalkaska, and Leelanau counties.
Historically part of the territory under the Council of Three Fires (comprising the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi), Grand Traverse County's first European settlement was established in 1839. It was originally created in 1840 as Omeena County; however, it was reorganized in 1851 as Grand Traverse County. The county itself and Traverse City are named after Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.
Interlochen Center for the Arts, a prestigious boarding school, is located within the county.
History Prior to European settlement, Grand Traverse County was part of lands roamed by the Anishinaabe Council of Three Fires (comprising the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi) tribes. The Anishinaabe call the area at the head of Grand Traverse Bay (Ojibwe: 'place at the head of the great bay').
As a duty of the federal government under the 1836 Treaty of Washington, the first permanent settlement in the county was the mission now known as Old Mission, established in May 1839 as "Grand Traverse". "Grand Traverse Bay" comes from , or "the long crossing", named by the 18th-century French voyageurs who crossed the mouth of bay.
The Michigan Legislature separated the unorganized Omeena County from part of Michilimackinac County in 1840. Omeena is derived from an Ojibwe expression, , meaning "is it so?"
On April 7, 1851, an act of legislature organized Omeena County, effectively renaming it Grand Traverse County. The seat of government was designated to Boardman's Mills, a location in the young Traverse City. The future counties of Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford were subsequently attached to Grand Traverse County for administrative purposes, until being organized in their own rights. However, the act contained no provisions on formation of townships or choosing of election officials, thus Grand Traverse County had no legal government until 1858. That winter, an act of the state legislature completed the organization of Grand Traverse County and divided the county between two initial townships: Peninsula Township, comprising the Old Mission Peninsula, and Traverse Township, which encompassed the rest of the county.
Today, Grand Traverse County contains thirteen townships.
An 1884 article called the Traverse Region famous for "its productiveness of soil, salubrious climate and romantic scenery".
Historical markers There are 12 recognized Michigan historical markers in the county: They are:
City Opera House Congregation Beth El Dougherty Mission House Fife Lake–Union District No. 1 Schoolhouse Friends Meetinghouse Grand Traverse Bay Hannah and Lay Mercantile Building Hesler Log House Interlochen Ladies Library Association Novotny's Saloon Traverse City Regional Psychiatric Hospital
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (23%) is water. Grand Traverse County is considered part of Northern Michigan. The highest point in Grand Traverse County is Exodus Hill in Long Lake Township, and the lowest point is the Grand Traverse Bay. The county is home to many notable lakes, including Arbutus Lake, Fife Lake, Green Lake, Silver Lake, Spider Lake, and part of Elk Lake. The county's largest inland lake is Long Lake.
The Old Mission Peninsula, which projects into Grand Traverse Bay, is politically part of Grand Traverse County, and is largely part of Peninsula Township. Power Island, an island in Grand Traverse Bay, is also part of Peninsula Township.
Rivers Betsie River, begins at Green Lake (although its tributaries extend much further into the county), flows west into Benzie County, and eventually to Lake Michigan at Frankfort. Boardman River, enters from the east from Kalkaska County, flows west and north until reaching West Bay in Traverse City. Platte River, begins at Long Lake and flows west to Lake Dubonnet and into Benzie County, eventually ending at Lake Michigan.
Adjacent counties Antrim County (northeast) Kalkaska County (east) Missaukee County (southeast) Wexford County (south) Manistee County (southwest) Benzie County (west) Leelanau County (northwest)
Protected area
Pere Marquette State Forest
State parks
Interlochen State Park Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park Old Mission State Park
Communities
City Traverse City (county seat, partially in Leelanau County)
Villages Fife Lake Kingsley
Charter townships East Bay Township Garfield Township Long Lake Township
Civil townships
Acme Township Blair Township Fife Lake Township Grant Township Green Lake Township Mayfield Township Paradise Township Peninsula Township Union Township Whitewater Township
Census-designated places Chums Corner Grawn Interlochen
Other unincorporated communities
Acme Brookside Devils Elbow Fivemile Corner Hannah Hilltop Jacks Landing Karlin Long Lake Mapleton Mayfield Monroe Center Neahtawanta Old Mission Summit City Walton Wexford Corner Williamsburg Yuba
Ghost towns
Angell Archie Bates Bartlett Beitner Cedar Run Diamond Park Duck Lake Park East Bay Hilltop Hodge Keystone Kratochvil's Plat Lakeside Resort Mabel McManus Corner Moffatt Munro Neal Ogdensburg Pavlovic Corner Peninsula Resort Slights Skegemog Point Traverse Point Westminster Wylie
Indian reservation Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Grand Traverse County, Michigan – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)53,84562,65474,25881,18885,54398.08%97.48%95.63%93.33%89.82%Black or African American alone (NH)1632512951,0235830.30%0.39%0.38%1.18%0.61%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3945376999418780.72%0.84%0.90%1.08%0.92%Asian alone (NH)1423093825888130.26%0.48%0.49%0.68%0.85%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census182541xx0.02%0.03%0.04%Other race alone (NH)581957402890.11%0.03%0.07%0.05%0.30%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census7901,3074,081xx1.02%1.50%4.29%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2975031,1551,8743,0100.54%0.78%1.49%2.15%3.16%Total54,89964,27377,65486,98695,238 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 95,238. The median age was 43.4 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.4 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 90.8% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.1% from some other race, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.2% of the population.
56.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 43.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 39,819 households in the county, of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.5% were married-couple households, 17.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 45,776 housing units, of which 13.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.0% were owner-occupied and 25.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.0%.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 77,654 people, 30,396 households, and 20,730 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 34,842 housing units at an average density of .
In 2000, the racial makeup of the county was 96.51% White, 0.40% Black or African American, 0.93% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.54% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.1% were of German, 11.3% English, 10.7% Irish, 8.4% American and 7.4% Polish ancestry, 96.4% spoke only English at home, while 1.6% spoke Spanish at home.
There were 30,396 households, out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county, 25.4% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.9% was from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $43,169, and the median income for a family was $51,211. Males had a median income of $34,796 versus $24,139 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,111. About 3.80% of families and 5.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.30% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.
Religion Grand Traverse County is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaylord. It is also located in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan.
Politics Historically, Grand Traverse County has been a Republican-leaning county, like most of northern Michigan. It has voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election since the Civil War, except for four: 1912, 1932, 1936, and 1964. In 1912, it supported Bull Moose candidate Theodore Roosevelt as the GOP was mortally divided. The only other times it has not supported a Republican saw 400-vote and 40-state national Democratic landslides.
Since 2008, the county has become more politically competitive than other counties in traditionally heavily Republican Northern Michigan, with Democrats managing at least 40 percent of the vote in the last five presidential elections after not having done so since carrying the county in 1964. This is due almost entirely to Traverse City, which leans Democratic. The suburban and rural areas, however, remain powerfully Republican. Proving this, a Democrat holds the state house seat centered around Traverse City, the only Democrat representing a district based in Northern Michigan.
In the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer received 27,396 votes (52.38%), making her the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to carry the county since 1986.
In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump carried the county, despite losing the state of Michigan. In 2020, he won the county with 50.54% (30,502 votes), and in 2016, won with 52.73% (27,413 votes). Despite Trump's relatively similar percentage, his margin was massively decreased due to the lack of third party options in 2020 as well as a higher turnout for Democrats. In the 2024 election, despite being carried by Trump, Grand Traverse County was one of two counties in Michigan where Trump's percentage of votes decreased, along with neighboring Leelanau County.