8,169 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.3% since 2020)
898 square miles of land · 9 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.
3 active community water systems list Baraga County in the area they serve, reporting 4,650 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| L'ANSE surface water · local government · MI0003670 | 2,300 served |
| BARAGA surface water · local government · MI0000410 | 2,182 served |
| FORD FORESTRY CENTER groundwater · local government · MI0000090 | 168 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 14 people were held in Baraga County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 276 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 15.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Baraga County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $9.3 million — $8.3 million to run schools, about $16,166 per student, plus $859,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.4 million.
Spent $6 million — $5.9 million to run schools, about $18,539 per student, plus $91,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $2.3 million federal.
Spent $492,000 — $488,000 to run schools, about $48,800 per student, plus $4,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $367,000 local (mostly property tax), $73,000 state, $65,000 federal. Long-term debt: $662,000.
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 Baraga County about $3.8 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.
68 bridges in Baraga County: 42 in good condition, 21 fair, and 5 poor (7.4%). “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.
| US-41 over BAYOU & BLK WATER CREEK · built 1933 | 5,182 vehicles a day |
| US-41 over STURGEON RIVER · built 1947 | 3,585 vehicles a day |
| PELKIE ROAD over SILVER RIVER · built 1950 | 853 vehicles a day |
| OLD M-28 over ROCK RIVER · built 1924 | 17 vehicles a day |
| ERICKS ROAD over HURON RIVER · built 1992 | 15 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $29.1 million of work in Baraga County in fiscal 2025, about $3,563 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 Baraga 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 Baraga County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Houghton County (25 mi) · Marquette County (37 mi) · Iron County (37 mi) · Ontonagon County (44 mi) · Keweenaw County (46 mi) · Dickinson County (53 mi).