102,651 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.1% since 2020)
442 square miles of land · 232 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.
21 active community water systems list Bay County in the area they serve, reporting 98,711 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BAY CITY, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · MI0000470 | 32,255 served |
| BANGOR TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0000390 | 11,999 served |
| HAMPTON TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0002960 | 9,652 served |
| BAY CO. DEPT OF WATER & SEWER buys surface water · local government · MI0000485 | 8,465 served |
| WILLIAMS TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0007125 | 5,444 served |
| MONITOR TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0004440 | 5,217 served |
| FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP buys surface water · local government · MI0002410 | 3,626 served |
| ESSEXVILLE, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · MI0002180 | 3,478 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 121 people were held in Bay County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 185 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 187.
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 Bay County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $111.6 million — $96.4 million to run schools, about $15,093 per student, plus $9.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22.4 million local (mostly property tax), $70.6 million state, $22.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $46.1 million.
Spent $35.2 million — $30.4 million to run schools, about $11,502 per student, plus $4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.3 million local (mostly property tax), $27.4 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.3 million.
Spent $21.9 million — $19.9 million to run schools, about $13,241 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.1 million local (mostly property tax), $16.4 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $3 million.
Spent $16.8 million — $15 million to run schools, about $12,927 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4 million local (mostly property tax), $12.1 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.5 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Bay County about $38.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
166 bridges in Bay County: 46 in good condition, 93 fair, and 27 poor (16.3%). “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.
| I-75 NB over HESR · built 1960 | 44,350 vehicles a day |
| M-13 & M-84 over E CHANNEL SAGINAW RIVER · built 1938 | 16,380 vehicles a day |
| US-10 WB over E PATRICK RD(UNION RD) · built 1960 | 8,325 vehicles a day |
| SALZBURG RD over M-47 · built 1966 | 2,670 vehicles a day |
| WHEELER ROAD over KAWKAWLIN RIVER · built 1962 | 2,429 vehicles a day |
| GARFIELD RD over US-10 · built 1958 | 2,030 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $33.3 million of work in Bay County in fiscal 2025, about $320 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 Bay 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 Bay County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Midland County (20 mi) · Saginaw County (26 mi) · Arenac County (26 mi) · Gladwin County (29 mi) · Tuscola County (31 mi) · Gratiot County (42 mi).