8,695 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.6% since 2020)
915 square miles of land · 10 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
5 active community water systems list Alger County in the area they serve, reporting 4,134 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MUNISING groundwater · local government · MI0004560 | 2,783 served |
| MUNISING INDUSTRIAL PARK groundwater · local government · MI0004561 | 465 served |
| BURT TOWNSHIP groundwater · local government · MI0002780 | 411 served |
| CHATHAM groundwater · local government · MI0001355 | 300 served |
| MATHIAS TOWNSHIP groundwater · local government · MI0004152 | 175 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 26 people were held in Alger County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 466 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 19.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Alger County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $9.7 million — $9.2 million to run schools, about $16,130 per student, plus $85,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $5.8 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.8 million.
Spent $5.5 million — $5.3 million to run schools, about $16,131 per student, plus $227,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.7 million local (mostly property tax), $3.7 million state, $801,000 federal. Long-term debt: $250,000.
Spent $2 million — $1.5 million to run schools, about $41,714 per student, plus $457,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $890,000 local (mostly property tax), $907,000 state, $148,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.1 million.
Spent $1.2 million — $952,000 to run schools, about $39,667 per student, plus $269,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $952,000 local (mostly property tax), $179,000 state, $202,000 federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Alger County about $3.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
53 bridges in Alger County: 16 in good condition, 30 fair, and 7 poor (13.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| M-28 over PRAIRIE CREEK · built 1947 | 1,973 vehicles a day |
| US-41 over W BR WHITEFISH RIVER · built 1936 | 1,640 vehicles a day |
| KING ROAD over WHITEFISH RIVER · built 1910 | 50 vehicles a day |
| ALEC JOHNSON ROAD over WHITEFISH RIVER · built 1910 | 5 vehicles a day |
| KIVAMAKI ROAD over WHITEFISH RIVER · built 1910 | 5 vehicles a day |
| PAULSON ROAD over DEXTER CREEK · built 1920 | 5 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $8.2 million of work in Alger County in fiscal 2025, about $929 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Michigan are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Alger County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Alger County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Schoolcraft County (41 mi) · Marquette County (45 mi) · Delta County (51 mi) · Luce County (54 mi) · Dickinson County (67 mi) · Mackinac County (69 mi).