Michigan Counties Map: Click All 83 Counties

How many counties are in Michigan?

Michigan has 83 counties. 14 states have more, and 35 have fewer.

Michigan has 83 counties split between two peninsulas: the mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula across the Straits of Mackinac. Wayne County, home to Detroit, has the most people. Keweenaw County, at the tip of the Upper Peninsula in Lake Superior, has the fewest.

How Michigan's counties were formed

Wayne County, created in 1796 when the British left Detroit, is Michigan's oldest. Lewis Cass, the territorial governor, laid out many Lower Peninsula counties in the 1820s and 1830s, often before anyone lived in them. The Upper Peninsula was divided last as iron and copper mining grew. Isle Royale County existed from 1875 until it merged into Keweenaw County in 1897, and Dickinson County, organized in 1891, is the newest of the 83.

Michigan regions and the counties in each

Michigan's two peninsulas break into regions. Southeast Michigan includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw (Ann Arbor). The Thumb is Huron, Tuscola and Sanilac counties between Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. West Michigan centers on Kent (Grand Rapids) and Ottawa along Lake Michigan. Northern Michigan, the top of the mitten, includes Grand Traverse and Emmet. The Upper Peninsula's 15 counties run from Chippewa (Sault Ste. Marie) west to Gogebic, with the Mackinac Bridge linking Emmet County to Mackinac County.

Notable places on the Michigan county map

Mount Arvon, the state's highest point at 1,979 feet, is in Baraga County in the Upper Peninsula. Isle Royale National Park, an island in Lake Superior, belongs to Keweenaw County. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is in Alger County, Sleeping Bear Dunes is in Leelanau and Benzie counties, and Mackinac Island, where cars have been banned since 1898, is in Mackinac County.

Michigan counties map: the biggest and smallest

Marquette County is the largest county in Michigan, with 1,809 square miles of land, about 3% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Benzie County is the smallest, at 320 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Benzie County (320 sq mi), Leelanau County (347 sq mi) and Arenac County (363 sq mi).

Which counties in Michigan have the most people?

Wayne County has the most people, about 1,771,063 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 17% of everyone in Michigan. The three biggest counties together hold 39% of the state's 10,140,459 people. Keweenaw County has the fewest, about 2,161.

The most crowded is Wayne County, with about 2,895 people per square mile. The emptiest is Keweenaw County, with about 4 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Lansing in?

Lansing, the capital of Michigan, is in Ingham County. Ingham County ranks 8th of 83 by population. Michigan is called the Great Lakes State, and it became the 26th state in 1837.

Counties on the Michigan border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Michigan shares a border with Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

How Michigan's counties compare with other states

Michigan ranks 22nd among the 50 states in land area and 10th in population. Its average county covers about 682 square miles and holds about 122,174 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Michigan's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Michigan

• Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties form the Detroit area in the southeast.
• Ingham County (Lansing, the capital) is in the south-central Lower Peninsula.
• The 15 Upper Peninsula counties stretch west to Wisconsin, with Marquette County the largest.

With 83 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Michigan county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 83 Michigan counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Michigan geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Midwest states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in michigan, and check michigan school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Michigan history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.