Huron County is a county in Michigan, United States, at the northern tip of the Thumb region, about 100 miles north of Detroit. It had a population of 31,407 at the 2020 census, an estimated 30,530 by 2025, and covers 836 square miles (2,170 km2) of land centred near 43°52′N 83°02′W.
Bad Axe is the county seat; its postal code is 48413. The county holds 3 cities, 8 incorporated villages and 28 townships, plus about two dozen unincorporated communities across the peninsula, and it runs on Eastern Time.
Towns & Villages in Huron County
Huron County has 38 named places on record: 3 cities, 8 incorporated villages, 1 census-designated place and 26 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. In Michigan, cities are politically independent of townships, so their Township column reads —. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers hamlets and crossroads with no formal boundary.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bad Axe | City · seat | — | 3,021 | 48413 |
| Sebewaing | Village | Sebewaing | 1,721 | 48759 |
| Harbor Beach | City | — | 1,604 | 48441 |
| Pigeon | Village | Winsor | 1,222 | 48755 |
| Ubly | Village | Bingham | 836 | 48475 |
| Elkton | Village | Oliver | 796 | 48731 |
| Caseville | City | — | 652 | 48725 |
| Port Austin | Village | Port Austin | 622 | 48467 |
| Bay Port | CDP | Fairhaven | 464 | 48720 |
| Kinde | Village | Dwight & Lincoln | 421 | 48445 |
| Port Hope | Village | Rubicon | 293 | 48468 |
| Owendale | Village | Brookfield | 275 | 48754 |
| Bach | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Berne | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cracow | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Filion | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Glencoe | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Grindstone City | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Helena | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Huron City | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Ivanhoe | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kilmanagh | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lewisville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Linkville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Parisville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Pawlowski | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Pinnebog | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Pointe aux Barques | Unincorp. | Pointe Aux Barques | — | — |
| Popple | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Port Crescent | Unincorp. | Hume | — | — |
| Rapson | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Redman | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Rose Island | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Ruth | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Valley Island | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Verona | Unincorp. | Verona | — | — |
| Weale | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| White Rock | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
Port Crescent is a ghost town, not a living community — the sawmill settlement at the mouth of the Pinnebog River was gone by the mid-1900s, and the state began buying its site in 1956 to build Port Crescent State Park. Kinde straddles three townships: about half the village sits in Dwight Township, half in Lincoln Township, and a small portion reaches into Meade Township. Bay Port sits mostly in Fairhaven Township, with a small piece in McKinley Township.
Townships
Huron County has 28 civil townships, ranging from Sebewaing Township’s 2,678 residents to Pointe Aux Barques Township’s 15. Township lines run independently of the cities, which are self-governing.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Sebewaing | 2,678 | Sebewaing village |
| Winsor | 1,960 | Pigeon village |
| Colfax | 1,753 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Caseville | 1,674 | Caseville city |
| Bingham | 1,642 | Ubly village |
| Oliver | 1,419 | Elkton village |
| Port Austin | 1,384 | Port Austin village |
| Verona | 1,210 | Verona hamlet |
| Sand Beach | 1,155 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Fairhaven | 1,081 | Bay Port CDP |
| Sherman | 999 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Grant | 869 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Brookfield | 739 | Owendale village |
| Hume | 739 | Port Crescent (state park) |
| Lincoln | 727 | Kinde village (part) |
| Dwight | 708 | Kinde village (part) |
| Rubicon | 705 | Port Hope village |
| Meade | 698 | Kinde village (small part) |
| Lake | 657 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Sheridan | 627 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Paris | 491 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Chandler | 454 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Sigel | 437 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Bloomfield | 404 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| McKinley | 401 | Bay Port CDP (part) |
| Huron | 352 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Gore | 152 | Rural, no incorporated place |
| Pointe Aux Barques | 15 | Pointe aux Barques hamlet |
ZIP Codes
- 48413 — Bad Axe (county seat)
- 48759 — Sebewaing
- 48441 — Harbor Beach
- 48755 — Pigeon
- 48475 — Ubly
- 48731 — Elkton
- 48725 — Caseville
- 48467 — Port Austin
- 48720 — Bay Port
- 48445 — Kinde
- 48468 — Port Hope
- 48754 — Owendale
The county’s 26 unincorporated communities have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code.
Geography
Huron County occupies the tip of Michigan’s Thumb, a peninsula bounded on the west by Saginaw Bay and on the north and east by Lake Huron, with more than 90 miles of shoreline running from White Rock to Sebewaing. Of the county’s 2,137 square miles, only 836 are land; the remaining 1,301 square miles, 61 percent of the total, are open water. Two state parks, Sleeper State Park and Port Crescent State Park, sit along that shoreline, along with eight county parks.
By land, Huron County borders only two counties: Sanilac County to the southeast and Tuscola County to the southwest. Sanilac County and Tuscola County both border Huron directly. Across the water, Arenac and Iosco counties lie to the northwest on the far shore of Saginaw Bay.
Demographics
Huron County had a population of 31,407 at the 2020 census, down from 33,118 in the 2010 census, and the latest estimate puts the county near 30,530 residents by 2025. Bad Axe and Sebewaing are the two largest communities, together holding roughly 15 percent of the county’s population. Median household income runs $58,870, well below Michigan’s statewide figure of $69,183 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 38 people per square mile of land, low even for rural Michigan, reflecting how much of the county’s area is open water rather than settled ground.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture is the county’s most prominent industry, with the flat Thumb farmland given over largely to sugar beets, dry beans and corn. Manufacturing employs the most workers of any tracked sector, about 2,807 people, followed by health care and social assistance at 2,084 and retail trade at 1,380. The Michigan Sugar Company runs a beet-processing plant in Sebewaing, one of the region’s largest employers, and Scheurer Hospital in Pigeon anchors much of the county’s health care work. Tourism concentrates on Caseville and Port Austin each summer, drawing visitors from Detroit, Flint and Saginaw to the county’s beaches and state parks. The county’s biggest annual event is Cheeseburger in Caseville, a ten-day festival each August built around a Jimmy Buffett song that closes out the summer season; Sebewaing holds its own Michigan Sugar Festival built around the beet harvest.
History
Michigan’s legislature created Huron County on 1 April 1840 and fully organized it on 25 January 1859. Its name comes from Lake Huron, itself named for the Wendat people, whom French traders called Huron after “hures,” a term describing their hairstyles. Sand Beach, later renamed Harbor Beach, served as the first county seat until an 1865 courthouse fire destroyed most of its records. Port Austin held the seat next, until Bad Axe took over permanently in 1873. Bad Axe itself takes its name from an 1861 survey party that found a badly damaged axe at the site and called their camp Bad Axe Camp; the settlement was incorporated as a city in 1905.
Getting There
No interstate crosses Huron County. M-25 runs along the outer shoreline through most of the county’s coastal towns, M-53 runs north-south through the central county, M-19 runs north-south through the southern half, and M-142 crosses east-west through the center.
- Saginaw — about 54 miles southwest
- Flint — about 65 miles south-southwest
- Port Huron — about 64 miles south-southeast
- Detroit — about 102 miles south
MBS International Airport, near Saginaw, is the nearest major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Blue Water line stops in Port Huron, connecting to Flint, Lansing and Chicago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Huron County located?
It sits at the northern tip of Michigan’s Thumb region, bounded by Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, bordered by Sanilac and Tuscola counties to the south.
What is the population of Huron County?
31,407 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 30,530.
How big is Huron County?
2,137 square miles total, but only 836 square miles are land; the rest is Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay water.
What is the county seat of Huron County?
Bad Axe, the seat since 1873, is the county’s largest city.
How many towns and villages are in Huron County?
Three cities — Bad Axe, Caseville and Harbor Beach — plus eight incorporated villages: Sebewaing, Pigeon, Ubly, Elkton, Port Austin, Kinde, Port Hope and Owendale, the Bay Port census-designated place, and 28 civil townships.
What ZIP codes does Huron County use?
48413 for Bad Axe, 48759 for Sebewaing, 48441 for Harbor Beach, 48755 for Pigeon, and separate codes for each of the county’s other villages and Bay Port.
What is Huron County known for?
Sugar beet farming, the Cheeseburger in Caseville festival each August, and more than 90 miles of Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay shoreline.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Michigan.