Muskegon County, Michigan

Muskegon County is a county in Michigan, United States, on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore,
about 40 miles west of Grand Rapids. It had a population of 175,824 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 177,901 by 2025, and covers 499 square miles (1,290 km2) of land within a total area of
1,460 square miles (3,800 km2) that includes open Lake Michigan waters, centred near
43°17′N 86°27′W.

Muskegon is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 49440. The county
holds 7 cities, 4 incorporated villages and 3 unincorporated places — two census-designated
places and one crossroads community — across 16 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its
FIPS code is 26121.

Towns & Villages in Muskegon County

Muskegon County has 14 named places on record: 11 incorporated cities and villages, plus 3
places with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp.
covers a crossroads community with no formal boundary.

Michigan cities are legally independent of the townships around them, so the seven cities on
this list carry no township of their own — each sits inside, but is not governed by, the
township that surrounds it. Three places share part of the county’s name pattern and are easy to
mix up: the city of Muskegon, the separate city of Muskegon Heights next door, and Muskegon
Township, which is a third, distinct jurisdiction north of both cities.

Townships

Muskegon County has 16 townships — two charter townships (Fruitport and Muskegon) and 14
civil townships — ranked below by 2020 population.

ZIP Codes

• 49440 — Muskegon (downtown, the county seat’s main ZIP)
• 49442 — Muskegon (northeast side, also serves Wolf Lake and Egelston Township)
• 49444 — Muskegon Heights (also serves Norton Shores)
• 49441 — Roosevelt Park (also serves Norton Shores)
• 49445 — North Muskegon (also serves Dalton and Laketon townships)
• 49415 — Fruitport
• 49437 — Montague (also serves White River Township)
• 49451 — Ravenna (also serves Casnovia and Moorland townships)
• 49457 — Twin Lake (also serves Lakewood Club, Blue Lake and Cedar Creek townships)
• 49461 — Whitehall (also serves Whitehall Township)
• 49463 — Whitehall (a second Whitehall ZIP, mainly post office boxes)
• 49318 — Casnovia (shared with neighboring Kent County)
• 49303 — Bailey, an unincorporated place serving Casnovia and Moorland townships

Wabaningo, in Fruitland Township, has no ZIP of its own; mail there is delivered under
Whitehall’s 49461.

Geography

Muskegon County sits on Michigan’s western Lower Peninsula shoreline. Of its 1,460 square
miles, only 499 are land — about 34 percent — because the county’s jurisdiction
extends well out into Lake Michigan. Muskegon Lake, a drowned river mouth connected to Lake
Michigan by a channel at the city of Muskegon, is described as Michigan’s only deep-water port
on the lake. White Lake, near Whitehall and Montague, is a second major inland lake tied to Lake
Michigan by its own channel. The Muskegon River crosses the county from the east and empties into
Muskegon Lake.

Oceana County lies to the north, Newaygo County to the northeast, Kent County to the east, and
Ottawa County to the south. Oceana
County, Newaygo County, href=”https://townsvillages.com/us/kent-county-michigan/”>Kent County and href=”https://townsvillages.com/us/ottawa-county-michigan/”>Ottawa County all border
Muskegon directly. Across Lake Michigan to the west, the county’s water boundary reaches
Milwaukee County and Ozaukee County, Wisconsin.

Demographics

Muskegon County had a population of 175,824 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 177,901 residents by 2025. Muskegon and Norton Shores are the two largest
communities, together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Median household
income runs $65,024 (2024, Data USA), below Michigan’s statewide figure of $69,183 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 352 people per square mile of land — the county’s
open-water jurisdiction pulls the raw land-plus-water figure down to about a third of that.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 19,324 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 11,341 and retail trade at 8,776 (Data USA, 2024). Howmet
Aerospace, formerly Alcoa, runs an aerospace-components plant in Whitehall and is one of the
county’s named major employers. Michigan’s Adventure, the state’s largest amusement and water
park, sits near Muskegon and draws visitors from across West Michigan each summer. Downtown
Muskegon added a 25,000-square-foot convention center in 2021 and hosts a Saturday farmers market
that draws more than 10,000 visitors a week in summer. The county’s biggest annual gathering is
a motorcycle rally held in downtown Muskegon each July, alongside summer festivals such as the
Lakeshore Art Festival in June and the Michigan Irish Music Festival in September at Heritage
Landing.

History

Michigan’s legislature organized Muskegon County in 1859, carving it out of Ottawa County,
which had previously covered the southern three-quarters of the future county and whose seat,
Grand Haven, still serves Ottawa County today. The county’s name comes from the Muskegon River,
whose own name derives from the Ojibwa/Chippewa word mashkig, meaning marsh or swamp. French
traders Jean Baptiste Recollect and Pierre Constant had already set up posts in the area around
1812, and the Treaty of Washington in 1836 opened the land to wider settlement once Native
American communities ceded the surrounding territory.

European-American settlement began in earnest in 1837, alongside the start of large-scale
timber cutting that drew German, Dutch and Swedish immigrants through the mid-1800s and earned
Muskegon the nickname “Lumber Queen of the World.” Whitehall traces to the same era: lumber
baron Charles Mears and Giles B. Slocum founded the settlement around 1859 on White Lake, first
naming it Mears, then renaming it Whitehall in 1862 and incorporating it as a village in 1867 and
a city in 1943. Muskegon Heights incorporated in 1891 and grew as an industrial center built
around sawmills and later foundries.

Getting There

Interstate 96 runs to its western terminus in Muskegon, and US 31 crosses the county
north–south along the Lake Michigan shoreline, joined by M-37, M-46 and M-120.

• Grand Rapids — about 40 miles east
• Grand Haven — about 17 miles south
• Holland — about 30 miles south
• Ludington — about 50 miles north

Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, about 40 miles east, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Muskegon County Airport, closer to home, offers scheduled commercial service
to Chicago O’Hare along with general aviation. Muskegon lost its own passenger rail service in
1971, when the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad’s Michigan routes were left out of the original
Amtrak system; the nearest Amtrak station today is in Grand Rapids.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Muskegon County located?
It sits on Michigan’s western Lower Peninsula shoreline on Lake Michigan, about 40 miles west of
Grand Rapids, bordered by Oceana, Newaygo, Kent and Ottawa counties.

What is the population of Muskegon County?
175,824 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 177,901.

How big is Muskegon County?
1,460 square miles (3,800 km2) in total, of which 499 square miles (1,290 km2) are land —
the rest is Lake Michigan and connected waters.

What is the county seat of Muskegon County?
Muskegon, the county’s largest city, with postal code 49440.

How many towns and cities are in Muskegon County?
Seven cities — Muskegon, Norton Shores, Muskegon Heights, Roosevelt Park, North Muskegon,
Whitehall and Montague — plus four incorporated villages: Casnovia, Fruitport, Lakewood Club
and Ravenna.

What ZIP codes does Muskegon County use?
49440 to 49445 for Muskegon and its neighbors, 49415 for Fruitport, 49437 for Montague, 49451 for
Ravenna, 49457 for Twin Lake, 49461 and 49463 for Whitehall, and 49318 for Casnovia.

What is Muskegon County known for?
Its lumber-era history as the “Lumber Queen of the World,” Michigan’s Adventure amusement
park, and Muskegon Lake, Michigan’s only deep-water port on Lake Michigan.

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