Roscommon County, Michigan

Roscommon County is a county in Michigan, United States, in the north-central Lower Peninsula
about 20 miles south of Grayling. It had a population of 23,459 at the 2020 census, an estimated
23,914 by 2025, and covers 580 square miles (1,500 km2) centred near 44°20′N 84°37′W.

Roscommon is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated village; its postal code is 48653. The county holds 1 village, 3 census-designated places and 16 unincorporated communities across 11 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 26143.

Towns & Villages in Roscommon County

Roscommon County has 20 named places on record: 1 incorporated village and 3 census-designated
places with a population count, plus 16 unincorporated communities with no local government of
their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers resort clusters, lakeshore
subdivisions and rural crossroads with no incorporated boundary.

Several names on this list are easy to mix up. Houghton Lake the CDP takes its name from
Houghton Lake the water body, Michigan’s largest inland lake, and its built-up area spreads
across three townships — Denton, Lake and Roscommon. It is a separate place from Houghton
Lake Heights and Houghton Point, two smaller unincorporated communities on the lake’s north
and east shores. The village of Roscommon itself sits inside Higgins Township, not Roscommon
Township, which is a larger, separately named block of land east of the lake.

Townships

ZIP Codes

• 48653 — Roscommon (also serves the surrounding part of Higgins Township)
• 48629 — Houghton Lake
• 48630 — Houghton Lake Heights
• 48651 — Prudenville
• 48656 — St. Helen

Artesia Beach, Geels, Higgins Lake, Hillcrest, Houghton Point, Keno, Loxley, Lyon Manor, Maple
Valley, Meads Landing, Michelson, Nellsville, Sharps Corner and Tent City have no ZIP code of
their own; mail to these unincorporated communities is delivered under the nearest post office
town’s code listed above.

Geography

Roscommon County covers 580 square miles, of which 520 square miles are land and 60 square
miles are water, close to 10 percent — among the highest water shares in the northern
Lower Peninsula. Houghton Lake, at roughly 22,000 acres, is Michigan’s largest inland lake
and dominates the county’s southeast corner; Higgins Lake, mostly in the county’s
northeast, ranks as one of the state’s clearest and second-largest. Much of the remaining
land sits inside the Au Sable State Forest, a state-managed pine and hardwood forest that covers
a large share of the county’s interior.

Crawford County lies to the north, Oscoda County to the northeast, Ogemaw County to the east,
Gladwin County to the southeast, Clare County to the southwest, Missaukee County to the west and
Kalkaska County to the northwest. Crawford County,
Oscoda County,
Ogemaw County,
Gladwin County,
Clare County,
Missaukee County and
Kalkaska County all border Roscommon
directly.

Demographics

Roscommon County had a population of 23,459 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 23,914 residents. The median age is 56.6 years, among the oldest in Michigan,
with 33.0 percent of residents 65 or older and only 14.2 percent under 18 — a profile typical
of a lakes-and-forest retirement and second-home county. Houghton Lake and St. Helen are the two
largest communities, together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Median
household income runs about $55,246 (2024 ACS, DataUSA), well below Michigan’s statewide
figure of $69,183 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 45 people per square mile
of land, low even by rural northern Michigan standards, and reflects how much of the county is
seasonal cottage property rather than year-round housing — the 2020 census counted 23,069
housing units against only 11,415 occupied households, a vacancy rate above 50 percent.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 1,270 people,
followed by retail trade at 1,232 and manufacturing at 879. Tourism drives much of that retail
and service employment: Houghton Lake’s shoreline carries marinas, bait and tackle shops and
boat dealerships built around the lake’s recreational fishing trade, and the community runs
three golf courses, including The Quest Golf Club, designed by PGA professional Ken Green. The
Houghton Lake Historic Village Museum preserves 14 restored buildings from the county’s
logging era, among them an 1876 hand-hewn log schoolhouse. The county’s biggest annual event
is Tip-Up Town USA, a winter festival held on Houghton Lake every January with an opening
assembly, the Polar Bear Plunge, ice-fishing contests and snowmobile races, closing with a parade
on the fourth weekend.

History

Michigan’s legislature formed the county in 1840 and originally named it Mikenauk County,
from an Ojibwe word for turtle. The legislature renamed it Roscommon County in 1843, after County
Roscommon in Ireland. Before it organized its own county government in 1875, the area was
administered in turn by Michilimackinac, Cheboygan and Midland counties. The village of Roscommon,
first settled around 1845, incorporated in 1882 and grew into the county’s seat of
government and largest year-round community.

Logging drove the county’s early economy: crews cut white pine across the Au Sable and
Muskegon River watersheds and floated the logs downstream to sawmills through the late 1800s.
When the pine ran out around the turn of the century, the local economy shifted toward the
recreational fishing and cottage trade that Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake still support today.
Three Michigan historical markers stand in the county, at Gerrish, the Pioneer House and the
Terney House.

Getting There

Interstate 75 crosses the county’s northeast-middle portion, with exits serving Roscommon
and Houghton Lake. US 127 runs north–south through the western part of the county, passing
Higgins and Houghton Lakes on the west side. M-18 runs north–south through the center of the
county past Roscommon and Prudenville, M-55 runs east–west to its junction with I-75, and a
short state spur, M-157, links M-18 to M-55.

• Grayling — about 20 miles north
• West Branch — about 25 miles southeast
• Clare — about 35 miles southwest
• Traverse City — about 70 miles northwest

Two public airports serve the county directly: Houghton Lake State Airport in Roscommon
Township and Roscommon County–Blodgett Memorial Airport in Markey Township, both for general
aviation. No Amtrak line reaches Roscommon County; the nearest station is in the Saginaw area to
the southeast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Roscommon County located?
It sits in Michigan’s north-central Lower Peninsula, about 20 miles south of Grayling,
bordered by Crawford, Oscoda, Ogemaw, Gladwin, Clare, Missaukee and Kalkaska counties.

What is the population of Roscommon County?
23,459 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 23,914.

How big is Roscommon County?
580 square miles (1,500 km2) in total, of which 520 square miles are land and 60 square miles are
water.

What is the county seat of Roscommon County?
Roscommon is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated village.

How many towns and villages are in Roscommon County?
One incorporated village, Roscommon, plus three census-designated places — Houghton Lake,
Prudenville and St. Helen — and 16 unincorporated communities across the county’s 11
townships.

What ZIP codes does Roscommon County use?
48653 for Roscommon, 48629 and 48630 for the Houghton Lake area, 48651 for Prudenville and 48656
for St. Helen.

What is Roscommon County known for?
Houghton Lake, Michigan’s largest inland lake, and the Tip-Up Town USA winter festival held
there every January.

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