Oakland County, Michigan

Oakland County is a county in Michigan, United States, immediately northwest of Detroit, its
southern edge running along 8 Mile Road. It had a population of 1,274,395 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 1,288,337 by 2025, and covers 907 square miles (2,350 km2) centred near 42°40′N
83°23′W.

Pontiac is the county seat; its postal code is 48341. The county holds 30 cities, 10
incorporated villages and dozens of unincorporated communities across 21 townships, and it runs
on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 26125. Oakland is Michigan’s second-most populous county and
the most populous county in the United States with no city of 100,000 or more residents.

Towns & Villages in Oakland County

Oakland County contains 40 incorporated places — 30 cities and 10 villages. Michigan
cities are self-governing and sit outside any township, so the Township column is blank for
them; villages remain legally part of the township that surrounds them. Figures are the 2020
census count for each place.

Several names cause confusion. Novi the city (66,243 residents) and Novi Township (160
residents) are two separate jurisdictions; the township has been annexed down to 0.11 square
miles over the decades and is now the smallest township in Michigan by land area. Southfield the
city (76,618) and Southfield Township (14,886, including the villages of Beverly Hills and
Bingham Farms) are likewise distinct — the township’s own unincorporated area holds just
31 people. Milford and Oxford each have a village and a much larger surrounding township sharing
the same name; in both cases the village is a self-governing enclave inside the township’s
borders. Bloomfield Hills (a city, 4,460 residents), Bloomfield Charter Township (44,253) and
West Bloomfield Charter Township (65,888) are three separate governments despite the shared
name. Franklin village is split across three townships — Southfield, Bloomfield and West
Bloomfield. Northville is a consolidated city divided almost evenly by the Oakland–Wayne
county line; only its Oakland share, about 3,231 residents, is counted here. Fenton’s city limits
touch Oakland County’s southeast corner on paper, but the Census Bureau records zero residents
and no land area there, so it is not counted among Oakland’s cities.

Townships

Oakland County has 21 townships — 15 chartered, 6 civil. Sorted by 2020 population:

ZIP Codes

• 48009, 48012 — Birmingham
• 48017 — Clawson
• 48025 — Franklin, Beverly Hills and Bingham Farms villages
• 48030 — Hazel Park
• 48033, 48034, 48037, 48075, 48076, 48086 — Southfield and Lathrup Village
• 48067, 48068, 48073 — Royal Oak
• 48069 — Pleasant Ridge
• 48070 — Huntington Woods
• 48071 — Madison Heights
• 48072 — Berkley
• 48083–48085, 48098, 48099 — Troy (also 48007)
• 48220 — Ferndale and Royal Oak Township
• 48237 — Oak Park
• 48302, 48304, 48320, 48323–48325, 48328 — Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield and Keego Harbor area
• 48306–48309 — Rochester and Rochester Hills
• 48326 — Auburn Hills and Lake Angelus
• 48327, 48329–48330, 48387 — Waterford
• 48331, 48335, 48336 — Farmington and Farmington Hills
• 48340–48342 — Pontiac
• 48346, 48348 — Clarkston and Independence Township
• 48350 — Davisburg (Springfield Township)
• 48362 — Lake Orion
• 48366, 48367, 48370 — Lakeville, Leonard and Oxford Township’s rural addresses
• 48371 — Oxford village
• 48374–48377 — Novi
• 48380, 48381 — Milford
• 48383, 48386 — White Lake
• 48390, 48391, 48393 — Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake and Wixom
• 48442 — Holly village and Holly Township
• 48462 — Ortonville

A handful of unincorporated crossroads — Andersonville, Clyde, Four Towns, Glengary and
Goodison among them — have no ZIP of their own; mail there is delivered under the
surrounding township’s code.

Geography

Oakland County sits on rolling glacial moraine and kettle terrain left by the last ice age.
Of its 907 square miles, 868 are land and 40 are water, spread across more inland lakes than any
other Michigan county — roughly 1,450 of them, led by Cass Lake in Waterford Township. The
Clinton, Huron and Rouge rivers all rise inside the county’s borders. Six counties surround it:
Genesee and Lapeer to the north, Macomb to the east, Wayne to the south, and Livingston and
Washtenaw to the west. Macomb County (Towns
and villages in Macomb County) shares the longest border, running along the county’s eastern
edge. Wayne County lies directly south along 8 Mile Road (Towns and villages in Wayne
County). Lapeer County borders the northeast corner (Towns and villages in Lapeer County) and
Washtenaw County borders the southwest (Towns and villages in Washtenaw
County). Genesee and Livingston counties border the north and west respectively but do not
yet have a page on this site.

Demographics

Oakland County had 1,274,395 residents at the 2020 census and an estimated 1,288,337 by 2025.
Troy and Farmington Hills are its two largest communities, with 87,294 and 83,986 residents
respectively. The county’s median household income was $92,620 at the 2020 census, well above
Michigan’s statewide figure of roughly $72,900 in the most recent estimate, making Oakland the
wealthiest county in the state by that measure. Land-area density works out to about 1,470
people per square mile.

Economy & Local Life

Oakland County brands its tech and advanced-manufacturing corridor “Automation Alley,” and
automotive engineering remains the backbone of its economy. Stellantis (formerly Chrysler)
runs its North American headquarters and technology center from Auburn Hills. Troy hosts
Kelly Services, Flagstar Bank and the Somerset Collection, one of the Midwest’s largest luxury
malls. United Wholesale Mortgage, one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders, is
headquartered in Pontiac. Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak is
the county’s largest single employer, a Level I trauma center serving southeast Michigan. Oakland
University straddles Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, and Cranbrook Educational Community, the
private schools-and-museum campus, sits in Bloomfield Hills. Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in
Auburn Hills draws shoppers from across the region, and the Woodward Dream Cruise, the world’s
largest one-day car event, runs each August through Royal Oak, Berkley, Pontiac and several
other Woodward Avenue communities.

History

Territorial Governor Lewis Cass authorized Oakland County on 28 March 1820, carving it out of
the much larger Macomb County that had been organized the year before. The name comes from the
oak forests and oak-opening savanna early surveyors described across its rolling terrain. Pontiac
grew through the 20th century into a major automotive manufacturing center, home to General
Motors’ Pontiac Motor Division and, later, GM Truck and Bus operations. The Pontiac Silverdome,
built in 1975, hosted Super Bowl XVI in January 1982 before it was demolished in 2018. Andrew
Jackson Township in Addison — like much of the county — was surveyed and settled by New England
migrants in the 1820s and 1830s who gave many townships their New England-sounding names.

Getting There

Interstate 75 runs north–south through Troy, Auburn Hills and Pontiac. Interstate 96
crosses the southwest corner through Novi, Farmington Hills and Wixom. Interstate 696 runs along
the county’s southern tier through Southfield, Berkley and Royal Oak. M-59 is the main east–west
route through Waterford and Pontiac.

• Detroit — 25 miles southeast
• Ann Arbor — 30 miles southwest
• Flint — 35 miles north
• Lansing — 65 miles west

Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township handles general aviation; the
nearest major commercial airport is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, about 30 miles
south. Troy Transit Center is the county’s Amtrak stop, served by the Wolverine line between
Chicago and Pontiac/Detroit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Oakland County?
It is in southeastern Michigan, immediately northwest of Detroit, bordered by Macomb County to
the east and Wayne County to the south.

What is the population of Oakland County?
1,274,395 at the 2020 census, an estimated 1,288,337 by 2025 — Michigan’s second-most
populous county.

How big is Oakland County?
907 square miles (2,350 km2) total — 868 square miles of land and 40 square miles of
water.

What is the county seat of Oakland County?
Pontiac, ZIP code 48341.

How many cities and villages are in Oakland County?
30 cities and 10 incorporated villages, spread across 21 townships.

Which ZIP codes does Oakland County cover?
Roughly 48009 to 48462, with Troy, Southfield, Rochester Hills and Waterford each holding
several codes of their own.

Why do some Oakland County place names appear twice?
Several villages — Milford, Oxford, Holly — share a name with the much larger
township around them, and Novi and Southfield each have both a city and a separate, far smaller
township carrying the same name.

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