Population and Housing

Population: 11,817
Total housing units: 9,256
Households: 5,392
Owner occupied housing: 83.7% (national average 63.9%)
Median age: 53.3
Median household income: $33,663
Median household value: $74,400

Labor Force

Labor force: 5,124
Educational Attainment (high school graduate or higher): 91.2%
Unemployment rate: 6.1%
Mean travel-time to work: 21 minutes

Education and Training

Two K-12 school districts: West Iron District (located in Iron River) and the Forest Park District (located in Crystal Falls), severing over 1,200 students.

Two community colleges service Iron County residents – Gogebic Community College in Ironwood (to the west) and Bay de Noc Community College in Iron Mountain (to the east).

Business Information

Companies in County: 1,060

Major Iron County employers (100+ employees):

Angeli Foods, Aramark, Aspirus Iron River Hospital, Connor-AGA Sports Flooring, the Iron County Medical Care Facility, Krist Oil Company, Lake Shore Systems, Inc., Ski Brule

Telecommunications

Local: AT&T

Cellular: AT&T, Verizon

Internet: AT&T, Everstream, Fast-Air Internet, Iron River Co-op, MTC/Jamadots, Packerland Broadband, Peninsular Fiber, UP.net, UPlogon.com

Utilities

Electricity: City of Crystal Falls, Upper Peninsula Power Company, We Energies

Natural Gas: DTE Energy

Propane: Krist Oil, Marlow Gas

Water: municipal and private wells

Geography

• Total Area: 1,211 square miles
• 425,000 acres of forest land (the western third of Iron County is in the Ottawa National Forest)
• 200 miles of canoe-able water in Iron County (over 1,000 miles of river)
• 5 blue ribbon trout streams (Brule River, Cooks Run River, Fence River, Iron River, Paint River)
• 250+ lakes in Iron County
• 260 miles of groomed ATV/UTV/Snowmobile trails
• Over 80 miles of marked hiking trails
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Weather

• Average rainfall per year: 30 inches
• Average snowfall per year: 78 inches
• Average Winter High: 21°F
• Average Spring High: 52°F
• Average Summer High: 77°F
• Average Fall High: 48°F

Major Highways

• US-2, East to Iron Mountain – West to Wisconsin, daily traffic count: 7,500
• M-189, North to Iron River – South to Wisconsin, daily traffic count: 4,100
• M-69, East to M-95 – West to US-2, daily traffic count: 3,500
• US-141, North to US-41 – South to US-2, daily traffic count: 3,100
• M-73, East to Iron River – West to Wisconsin, daily traffic count: 1,300
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Travel Times

• To Chicago, IL: 6 hours
• To Escanaba, MI: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• To Green Bay, WI: 2 hours, 45 minutes
• To Iron Mountain, MI: 50 minutes
• To Marquette, MI: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• To Wausau, WI: 2 hours, 15 minutes