18,520 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.9% since 2020)
320 square miles of land · 58 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.
10 active community water systems list Benzie County in the area they serve, reporting 3,936 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| FRANKFORT, CITY OF groundwater · local government · MI0002430 | 1,286 served |
| CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA groundwater · private · MI0001716 | 700 served |
| BENZONIA VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · MI0000610 | 511 served |
| THOMPSONVILLE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · MI0006590 | 438 served |
| BEULAH, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · MI0000680 | 380 served |
| ELBERTA, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · MI0002080 | 372 served |
| CRYSTAL RIDGE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION groundwater · private · MI0001694 | 80 served |
| BUENA VISTA ESTATES groundwater · private · MI0040051 | 79 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 18 people were held in Benzie County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 171 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 36.
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 Benzie County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $41.8 million — $18.4 million to run schools, about $14,875 per student, plus $21.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.5 million local (mostly property tax), $7 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $31.4 million.
Spent $13.1 million — $10.4 million to run schools, about $21,860 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.8 million local (mostly property tax), $2.1 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $7.5 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Benzie County about $7.4 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.
25 bridges in Benzie County: 8 in good condition, 10 fair, and 7 poor (28.0%). “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.
| LINDY ROAD over BETSIE RIVER · built 1962 | 1,826 vehicles a day |
| HAZE ROAD over PLATTE RIVER · built 1973 | 380 vehicles a day |
| NOSTWICK ROAD over BETSIE RIVER · built 1900 | 95 vehicles a day |
| CARMEAN ROAD over BETSIE RIVER · built 1977 | 89 vehicles a day |
| FEWINS ROAD over PLATTE RIVER · built 1972 | 65 vehicles a day |
| KING ROAD over BETSIE RIVER · built 1973 | 52 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $4 million of work in Benzie County in fiscal 2025, about $222 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 Benzie 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 Benzie County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Michigan: the state government and every county in Michigan.
Nearby counties: Manistee County (27 mi) · Grand Traverse County (34 mi) · Leelanau County (36 mi) · Wexford County (39 mi) · Mason County (48 mi) · Lake County (49 mi).