The Traverse City Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in Northern Michigan, anchored by the city of Traverse City.
As of the 2010 census, the area had a population of 143,372.
As of the census of 2000, there were 131,342 people, 51,760 households, and 36,176 families residing within the micropolitan area. The racial makeup of the micropolitan area was 96.15% White, 0.33% African American, 1.43% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.69% of the population.
Traverse City (/ˈtrævərs ˈsɪti/ or local /ˈtrævər.sɪti/) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse City micropolitan area.
The Traverse City area is the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States. Near the time of cherry harvest, the city hosts the annual week-long National Cherry Festival in the first full week of July, attracting approximately 500,000 visitors annually. The surrounding countryside also produces grapes, and is one of the centers of wine production in the Midwest.Tourism, both summer and winter, is another key industry. The Traverse City area features varied natural attractions, including freshwater beaches, vineyards, a National Lakeshore, downhill skiing areas, and numerous forests. In 2009, TripAdvisor named Traverse City the number two small town travel destination in the United States. In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U.S., by U.S. News.
United States micropolitan statistical areas (µSA, where the initial Greek letter mu represents "micro-"), as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), are urban areas in the United States centered on an urban cluster (urban area) with a population at least 10,000 but less than 50,000. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003. Like the better-known Metropolitan Statistical Areas, a micropolitan area is a geographic entity used for statistical purposes based on counties and county equivalents. The OMB has identified 576 micropolitan areas in the United States.
The term "micropolitan" gained currency in the 1990s to describe growing population centers in the United States that are removed from larger cities, in some cases by 100 miles (160 km) or more. Lower land and labor costs have led some micropolitan areas to develop many housing subdivisions and suburban cultures similar to those found in larger metropolitan areas.
Micropolitan cities do not have the economic or political importance of large cities, but are nevertheless significant centers of population and production, drawing workers and shoppers from a wide local area. Because the designation is based on the core urban cluster's population and not on that of the whole area, some micropolitan areas are actually larger than some metropolitan areas. For example, the Ottawa–Peru, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area had a 2010 census population of 154,908. That would put its total population ahead of roughly 100 individual locations classified as a Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2010. The largest of the areas, centered on Torrington, Connecticut, had a population in excess of 180,000 in 2000; Torrington's population in that year's census was only 35,202.