15,087 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.5% since 2020)
363 square miles of land · 42 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.
9 active community water systems list Arenac County in the area they serve, reporting 9,137 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SIMS-WHITNEY UTILITIES AUTH. buys surface water · local government · MI0006073 | 5,815 served |
| STANDISH, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · MI0006350 | 1,509 served |
| AU GRES, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · MI0000280 | 945 served |
| STANDISH TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0006352 | 430 served |
| OMER, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · MI0005005 | 279 served |
| AU GRES TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0000285 | 66 served |
| NORTHERN COUNTRY ESTATES groundwater · private · MI0040039 | 53 served |
| MEDILODGE OF STERLING groundwater · private · MI0062841 | 39 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 22 people were held in Arenac County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 247 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 39.
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.
2 school districts have their office in Arenac County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $23.4 million — $20.1 million to run schools, about $13,371 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.7 million local (mostly property tax), $15.7 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.2 million.
Spent $6.9 million — $6.2 million to run schools, about $14,940 per student, plus $213,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.5 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.6 million.
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 Arenac County about $5.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
80 bridges in Arenac County: 25 in good condition, 43 fair, and 12 poor (15.0%). “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.
| STERLING ROAD over I-75 NB · built 1968 | 14,350 vehicles a day |
| I-75 SB over N BRANCH PINE RIVER · built 1968 | 7,138 vehicles a day |
| M-61 over M BR PINE RIVER · built 1952 | 4,242 vehicles a day |
| M-61 over M BR PINE RIVER · built 1952 | 4,242 vehicles a day |
| M-33 over LAKE STATE RR & OLD M-76 · built 1968 | 4,124 vehicles a day |
| M-33|ALGER RD over I-75 NB · built 1968 | 4,124 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $23.4 million of work in Arenac County in fiscal 2025, about $1,560 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 Arenac 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 Arenac County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Bay County (26 mi) · Ogemaw County (28 mi) · Iosco County (30 mi) · Gladwin County (32 mi) · Tuscola County (41 mi) · Midland County (42 mi).