Northern Michigan's annual summer surge: Study shows 78% population spike

Annie Doyle, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read
Charlevoix's annual Venetian Festival draws thousands of visitors to the area each July.
Charlevoix's annual Venetian Festival draws thousands of visitors to the area each July.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — A recently published study provided concrete data to a fact people in the region already know: summertime in Northwest Michigan brings a lot of visitors to the area.

Networks Northwest — a Traverse City-based community planning organization — published a 2022 seasonal population study focusing on 10 counties in the western Northern Michigan region, including Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties.

For the entire 10-county region, the study found the population to be extremely seasonal, as it rises and falls by 78 percent in the summer. The increase of roughly 295,000 people to the region in the summer is driven predominately by overnight visitors. Overall, in the peak month of July, overnight visitors accounted for 40 percent of the region's population. Of the 270,000 overnight visitors in July 2022, roughly 82 percent of them stayed at hotels, motels and campgrounds. The remaining overnight visitors stayed in short-term rentals.

Networks Northwest's seasonal population study focuses on 10 counties in the western Northern Michigan region: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford.
Networks Northwest's seasonal population study focuses on 10 counties in the western Northern Michigan region: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford.

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Several of the counties had above average seasonal growth even for the region. Antrim County had a population of 59,352 in July 2022, compared to March's 30,860, equating to a 92 percent increase in population size. Leelanau County saw the greatest spike, growing by 33,464 people — or 126 percent — last July. Emmet County grew by 105 percent, with an additional 45,961 people visiting their community during tourist season. Charlevoix County, which includes the cities of Charlevoix, Boyne City and East Jordan, increased by 72 percent — or 24,930 people.

Wexford County had the smallest reported summertime growth with a population increase of 42 percent, or 17,290 people.

A crowd gathers to watch a movie hosted in downtown Petoskey as part of the city's Summer Celebration event.
A crowd gathers to watch a movie hosted in downtown Petoskey as part of the city's Summer Celebration event.

More:New study looks at seasonal population, short-term rentals in Northern Michigan

Charlevoix County, along with Antrim, Benzie and Emmet counties, also maintain a sizable population of overnight visitors year-round, according to the study. This is attributed to the winter recreation opportunities in each county, all of which have a winter resort.

In February last year, the number of part-time residents in the region was at its lowest point, with only 13,120 individuals. The regional part-time population in the span of four months increased by 636 percent to 96,566 individuals in June.

As a heavily seasonal region, employment levels fluctuate within the region as well, as reported by Networks Northwest. In the month of July, there was an estimated 15,898 seasonal employees in the region, representing 10.4 percent of the total labor force.

For more data on individual counties, visit www.networksnorthwest.org.

— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Study shows Northern Michigan's summer population spikes by 78%