Cheboygan County, Michigan

Cheboygan County is a county in Michigan, United States, at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula where Lake Huron meets the Straits of Mackinac. It had a population of 25,579 at the 2020 census and covers 885 square miles (2,290 km2) total — 715 square miles (1,850 km2) of land and 170 square miles (440 km2) of water — centred near 45°29′N 84°30′W.

Cheboygan is the county seat, and its postal code is 49721. The county has one city, two census-designated places, one shared village, and roughly 50 smaller unincorporated communities and lakeshore subdivisions spread across 19 civil townships. It sits in the Eastern time zone.

Towns & Villages in Cheboygan County

Cheboygan County has a single incorporated city, two Census-designated places (Indian River and Tower), and shares the village of Mackinaw City with neighboring Emmet County. The rest of the list below is unincorporated communities and lakeshore subdivisions, most clustered around Mullett Lake, Burt Lake, and Black Lake. “CDP” marks a Census-designated place; “Unincorp.” marks an unincorporated community with no municipal government of its own.

Mackinaw City straddles the Cheboygan–Emmet county line; its post office and most of its historic waterfront sit on the Emmet County side, but the eastern edge of the village reaches into Mackinaw Township here. The old list carried two separate “Grand View” entries and two “Tower” entries — each pair refers to the same place and has been merged into one row above.

Townships

ZIP Codes

• 49721 — Cheboygan (also serves Alverno, Birchwood, Chippewa Beach, Cold Springs, and most lakeshore subdivisions west of the city)
• 49749 — Indian River (also serves Aloha, Haakwood, Indianville, Springwell Heights)
• 49799 — Wolverine (also serves Freedom)
• 49701 — Mackinaw City
• 49705 — Afton
• 49791 — Topinabee
• 49717 — Burt Lake
• 49792 — Tower (also serves Legrand, Wildwood)
• 49761 — Mullett Lake (also serves Mullett Lake Woods)

Carp Lake and a handful of the county’s westernmost subdivisions use the neighboring 49718 Levering ZIP rather than a Cheboygan County post office.

Geography

Cheboygan County lies at the top of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, its northern shore fronting Lake Huron and the Straits of Mackinac. Inland, the county is threaded by three connected lakes — Mullett Lake, Burt Lake, and Black Lake — joined to Lake Huron by the Cheboygan River and Indian River, together forming the Inland Waterway, a historic canoe and boat route across the peninsula. The terrain is mostly flat to gently rolling glacial outwash, with extensive state forest land in the interior townships.

Cheboygan County borders Presque Isle County to the east, Montmorency County to the southeast, Otsego County to the south, Charlevoix County to the southwest, and Emmet County to the west; Mackinac County lies across the Straits to the north.

Demographics

Cheboygan County had 25,579 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 36 people per square mile. Cheboygan, the county seat, is the largest place with 4,770 residents, followed by Indian River as the largest unincorporated concentration on the Inland Waterway. Median household income in the county runs below the Michigan median of $69,183, reflecting the area’s reliance on seasonal tourism and service-sector work rather than year-round manufacturing.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism, forestry, and government employment drive the county economy. Cheboygan’s harbor hosts the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, the Great Lakes’ primary icebreaker, based there since 2006 (an earlier vessel of the same name was homeported in the city from 1944). McLaren Northern Michigan and other regional health providers maintain a presence in the county, and Cheboygan County operates a public airport and marina used heavily by seasonal boaters moving between Lake Huron and the Inland Waterway lakes. Mackinaw City, on the county’s western edge, draws heavy summer traffic as the southern gateway to the Mackinac Bridge.

History

Cheboygan County’s boundaries were set off from Michilimackinac County in 1840, and the county government was formally organized in 1853. The name comes from an Ojibwe word for the river at Cheboygan, variously translated as referring to a passage or a place of departure. The city of Cheboygan grew around 19th-century lumbering and Great Lakes shipping, and its harbor later became a base for federal icebreaking operations on the upper Great Lakes, a role it still holds today.

Getting There

• Petoskey — 30 miles southwest
• Gaylord — 30 miles south
• Alpena — 55 miles southeast
• St. Ignace — 20 miles northwest, across the Mackinac Bridge

Interstate 75 runs north–south through the western part of the county past Wolverine and Indian River to the Mackinac Bridge, with US 23 following the Lake Huron shore through Cheboygan and US 31 approaching from the southwest. Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City and Pellston Regional Airport in neighboring Emmet County are the nearest commercial airports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Cheboygan County?
It is in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, on Lake Huron at the Straits of Mackinac.

What is the population of Cheboygan County?
25,579 at the 2020 census.

How big is Cheboygan County?
715 square miles (1,850 km2) of land plus 170 square miles (440 km2) of water.

What is the county seat of Cheboygan County?
Cheboygan is the county seat.

How many towns are in Cheboygan County?
One city (Cheboygan), a shared village (Mackinaw City), the village of Wolverine, two census-designated places, and about 50 smaller unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Cheboygan County?
Nine, led by 49721 (Cheboygan), 49749 (Indian River), and 49701 (Mackinaw City).

What is the Inland Waterway?
A chain of connected lakes and rivers — Mullett Lake, Burt Lake, Black Lake, the Cheboygan River, and the Indian River — that lets small boats cross most of the county without entering the open Great Lakes.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Michigan.