Wayne County, Michigan

Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, 1,793,561 people lived there,^[3] and it was the 19th most-populous county in the United States. The county seat is Detroit^[4] which is the largest city in Michigan.^[1]

Wayne County
County
Clockwise: Downtown Detroit, Ford World Headquarters, James Scott Memorial Fountain, Gateway Bridge, the Uniroyal Giant Tire and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Flag Seal
Location in Michigan
Country	United States
State	Michigan
Region	Metro Detroit
Incorporated	1796 (created) 1815 (organized)[1][2]
Named for	Anthony Wayne
County seat and Largest city	Detroit
Area
• Total	673 sq mi (1,740 km2)
• Land	612 sq mi (1,590 km2)
• Water	61 sq mi (160 km2)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	1,793,561
• Density	2,931/sq mi (1,132/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Area codes	313, 734, 248
Website	www.waynecounty.com

History

Census	Pop.		%±
1810	2,227		—
1820	3,574		60.5%
1830	6,781		89.7%
1840	24,173		256.5%
1850	42,756		76.9%
1860	75,547		76.7%
1870	119,068		57.6%
1880	168,444		41.5%
1890	257,114		52.6%
1900	348,793		35.7%
1910	531,591		52.4%
1920	1,177,645		121.5%
1930	1,888,946		60.4%
1940	2,015,623		6.7%
1950	2,435,235		20.8%
1960	2,666,297		9.5%
1970	2,666,751		0.0%
1980	2,337,891		−12.3%
1990	2,111,687		−9.7%
2000	2,061,162		−2.4%
2010	1,820,584		−11.7%
2020	1,793,561		−1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]

"Mad Anthony" Wayne

Wayne County was one of the first counties formed when the Northwest Territory was created. It was named for the American general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. When it was created, the entire area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and small sections that are now part of northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were part of Wayne County. On August 15, 1796, the boundaries of Wayne County were set to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River then west to Fort Wayne, then to the southernmost point of Lake Michigan and along the western shore north to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior and then along the territorial boundary through Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie back to the starting point.^[6]

On January 14, 1803, the Governor of Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, changed the boundary. This new boundary included Chicago, Illinois and a large strip of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan.^[7]

These boundaries were later changed again when Indiana and Illinois became states and as other counties were created in Michigan Territory.

Geography

The county has a total area of 672.20 square miles (1,741.0 km²). Of this, 614.15 square miles (1,590.6 km²) (or 91.36%) is land and 58.05 square miles (150.3 km²) (or 8.64%) is water^[8] Parts of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair are included in the county.

The eastern boundary is a water boundary in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair with Essex County, Ontario, Canada. Cars crosses this boundary at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge.

Grosse Ile is the largest island in Wayne County. It is connected to the mainland by the Wayne County Bridge and the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge.

Adjacent counties

Cities, villages, and townships

The white areas represent unincorporated charter and civil townships. The gray areas represent incorporated cities and villages.

Cities

Allen Park Belleville Dearborn Heights Dearborn Detroit Ecorse Flat Rock (partially in Monroe County) Garden City Gibraltar

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe Farms Grosse Pointe Park Grosse Pointe Shores (partially in Macomb County) Grosse Pointe Woods Hamtramck Harper Woods Highland Park

Inkster Lincoln Park Livonia Melvindale Northville (partially in Oakland County) Plymouth River Rouge

Riverview Rockwood Romulus Southgate Taylor Trenton Wayne Westland Woodhaven Wyandotte

Townships

Brownstown Charter Township Canton Charter Township Grosse Ile Township Huron Charter Township

Northville Charter Township Plymouth Charter Township Redford Charter Township Sumpter Township Van Buren Charter Township