Welcome to the official web site for the City of Coopersville, Michigan

www.cityofcoopersville.com

About Coopersville

The History of Coopersville

In 1845, Benjamin Cooper of Utica, New York, purchased 640 acres in northeast Ottawa County to harvest timber. The area was heavily forested and had close proximity to the Grand River where timber could be transported to Grand Haven, a major shipping port on the Great Lakes. With the help of his two sons, Cooper built a sawmill.

In 1850, Benjamin Cooper, offered the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad land for railway right-of-way. In exchange for the right-of-way, the railroad promised not to put another depot nearer than five or six miles from a new town which would be named Coopersville. The company agreed and Coopersville was built. The first train passed through Coopersville on its way to Grand Haven in the fall of 1858.

Coopersville was incorporated as a village in 1871. The population in 1871 was 500. Gradually the forests became fields, and farming replaced lumbering.

The primary business district on Main Street was destroyed by a fire in 1893 and again in 1898. The Interurban Building at 363 Main Street was built for the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway, which began operations in 1902. Its electric interurban service consisted of a main line running from Grand Rapids to Muskegon, with a branch from Fruitport to Grand Haven.

Coopersville grew slowly and by 1940 had doubled its population to 1,083 individuals. Over the last 60 years the community has continued to grow over 2 percent annually with a population of 3,910 in 2000. Even with this growth, Coopersville still maintains its rural ambiance with over 50 percent of land within the city limits still committed to agriculture.

On August 29, 1966 , the Coopersville Charter Commission voted to approve a Charter that changed Coopersville from a village to a home rule city. The move to city status was approved by the electorate on December 13, 1966. On January 1, 1967, Coopersville became a city adding over three square miles to bring the total incorporated area to almost five square miles.

Over the years the city has been blessed with far sighted leaders who insured an excellent infrastructure to support the needs of the area residents. In 1978 the city connected to the Grand Rapids water supply system greatly increasing the quantity and quality of the city's water. Since 1903, many improvements have been made to the sanitary sewer system guaranteeing future capacity and assuring the system meets state and federal standards.

Coopersville looks to the future with confidence knowing a firm foundation has been constructed to meet any challenges.

Demographics

The City of Coopersville is a rural-suburban community located midway between the Grand Rapids and Muskegon metropolitan centers. On January 1, 1967, Coopersville became an incorporated city with an area of five square miles. Today, approximately 50% of that area is developed; the remainder is zoned Agricultural.

Coopersville has grown at a moderate rate over the years and projections indicate a continued increase of 1.5% to 2% annually in the next decade.

Population and Housing Characteristics

	1990	2000/2006
Total population	3,421	3,910/4,192
SEX AND AGE
Male	1,622	1,894
Female	1,799	2,016

Median age (years)	28.6	31.4
HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE
Total households	1,175	1,420
Family households (families)	903	1,036
With own children under 18 years	N/A	562
Married-couple family	746	822
With own children under 18 years	N/A	418
Female householder, no husband present	126	166
With own children under 18 years	N/A	111
Non-family households	272	384
Householder living alone	223	321
Householder 65 years and over	94	127
Households with individuals under 18 years	N/A	601
Households with individuals 65 years and over		280
Average household size	2.87	2.74
Average family size	3.29	3.21
HOUSING OCCUPANCY
Total housing units	1,213	1,521
Occupied housing units	1,175	1,420
Vacant housing units	38	101
For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use	3	5
Homeowner vacancy rate (percent)	1.2	1.9
Rental vacancy rate (percent)	2.9	15.2
HOUSING TENURE
Occupied housing units	1,175	1,420
Owner-occupied housing units	910	1,112
Renter-occupied housing units	265	308
Average household size of owner-occupied unit	3.03	2.89
Average household size of renter-occupied unit	2.30	2.20

Source: US Census Bureau 2000 Census

Coopersville Primary Trade Area

Population / Employment & Income

Population

	Allendale Township	Chester Township	Crockery Township	Polkton Township	Village of Ravenna	Ravenna Township	Tallmadge Township	Wright Township	Ottawa County
Total population	13,042	2,315	3,782	2,335	1,206	2,856	6,881	3,286	238,314
Male	6,154	1,185	1,964	1,183	574	1,395	3,505	1,635	117,349
Female	6,888	1,130	1,818	1,152	632	1,461	3,376	1,651	120,965

Median age (years)	21.3	34.6	36.9	36.8	33.2	33.6	35.9	35.6	32.3
HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE
Total households	3,306	714	1,393	759	437	1,004	2,283	1,037	81,662
Family households (families)	2,296	579	1,063	631	341	797	1,869	826	61,360
With own children under 18 years	1,319	295	514	299	176	393	923	403	32,115
Married-couple family	2,010	502	887	571	285	668	1,689	717	52,744
With own children under 18 years	1,130	248	404	268	148	315	826	348	26,599
Female householder, no husband present	195	48	120	34	38	88	122	68	6,119
With own children under 18 years	135	33	75	20	17	52	74	37	4,042
Non family households	1,010	135	330	128	96	207	414	211	20,302
Householder living alone	513	105	275	110	83	176	327	180	15,989
Householder 65 years and over	113	34	78	35	44	82	100	79	6,032

Households with individuals under 18 years	1,376	313	555	313	184	419	967	422	33,608
Households with individuals 65 years and over	375	128	255	155	107	247	375	208	15,568

Average household size	3.03	2.99	2.7	3	2.76	2.84	2.97	2.98	2.81
Average family size	3.41	3.32	3.08	3.29	3.16	3.21	3.32	3.38	3.25
HOUSING OCCUPANCY
Total housing units	3,492	793	1,475	783	455	1,044	2,369	1,082	86,856
Occupied housing units	3,306	714	1,393	759	437	1,004	2,283	1,037	81,662
Vacant housing units	186	79	82	24	18	40	86	45	5,194
For seasonal, recreational, or occasional use	10	24	15	5	2	5	11	8	2,087

Homeowner vacancy rate (percent)	3.2	1.4	2.2	1	2.8	1.7	1.3	0.7	1.3
Rental vacancy rate (percent)	4.5	27.5	5.8	2.2	4.8	2.6	6.9	6.3	5.7
HOUSING TENURE
Occupied housing units	3,306	714	1,393	759	437	1,004	2,283	1,037	81,662
Owner-occupied housing units	2,452	635	1,182	671	378	853	2,093	947	65,918
Renter-occupied housing units	854	79	211	88	59	151	190	90	15,744

Average household size of owner-occupied unit	3.1	2.93	2.76	2.96	2.81	2.9	3.02	3.03	2.91
Average household size of renter-occupied unit	2.81	3.48	2.34	3.33	2.44	2.52	2.49	2.5	2.39

Source: US Census Bureau 2000 Census

Employment & Income

2000 U. S. Census Employment Information on Primary Trade Area	Allendale Township	Chester Township	City of Coopersville	Crockery Township	Polkton Township	Village of Ravenna	Ravenna Township	Tallmadge Township	Wright Township	Ottawa County
Employed persons 16 years and over	7,149	1,017	2,086	2,018	1,146	609	1,349	3,701	1,572	123,168
Management, professional, and related occupations	1,849	270	458	520	334	189	310	1,093	383	39,221
Service occupations	1,219	134	277	284	124	64	144	353	179	15,737
Sales and Office occupations	2,071	272	560	451	256	140	307	1,038	385	30,423
Farming, forestry, and fishing occupations	89	30	49	0	40	9	27	0	30	1,211
Construction, extraction and maintenance occupations	722	142	185	232	139	51	154	443	210	9,805
Production, transportation and material moving	1,199	201	557	531	253	156	407	774	385	26,771
INDUSTRY
Employed persons 16 years and over	7,149	1,017	2,086	2,018	1,146	609	1,349	3,701	1,572	123,168
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and mining	161	125	102	21	82	11	49	56	130	2,016
Construction	594	91	129	143	97	34	102	317	145	7,042
Manufacturing	1,154	249	580	592	227	214	475	976	361	36,311
Wholesale trade	279	34	88	56	45	26	41	185	119	5,278
Retail trade	1,053	135	311	295	179	69	169	430	211	14,617
Transportation and warehousing, and utilities	148	37	53	59	49	26	64	113	79	4,069
Information	158	17	21	38	14	12	12	69	23	1,911
Finance, insurance, and real estate	295	40	78	79	33	12	48	242	58	5,313
Professional, scientific, management, administrative and waste management	306	59	83	101	60	16	45	288	81	7,101
Educational, health and social services	1,685	136	343	285	208	134	192	613	245	23,161
Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food	841	56	136	180	71	24	78	54	37	7,743
Other services (except public administration)	315	42	95	78	49	18	45	258	69	6,027
Public administration	160	28	67	91	32	13	29	100	14	2,579
Class of Worker
Private wage and salary workers	6,126	817	1,789	1,591	941	533	1,171	3,125	1,357	106,617
Government workers	738	69	171	225	129	54	98	291	105	9,978
Self-imployed workers in own not incorporated business	258	136	126	196	64	22	76	262	110	6,247
Unpaid family workers	27	27	0	6	12	0	4	23	0	326
Income in 1999
Households	3,410	701	1,431	1,395	776	442	1,015	2,309	1,046	81,878
Less than $10,000	139	50	139	94	20	26	80	99	46	3,225
$10,000 to 14,999	151	20	61	58	21	17	68	96	26	3,216
$15,000 to $24,999	411	78	178	226	92	45	119	175	104	7,822
$25,000 to $34,999	483	90	108	140	97	62	132	121	128	9,144
$35,000 to $44,999	554	139	252	283	119	85	174	330	210	14,586
$50,000 to $74,999	882	172	438	366	221	122	261	635	204	21,820
$75,000 to $99,000	480	95	152	118	86	68	137	469	149	11,544
$100,000 to $149,999	228	37	76	81	79	13	35	245	66	7,336
$150,000 to $199,999	65	11	7	18	20	2	2	40	7	1,546
$200,000 or more	17	9	20	11	21	2	7	99	6	1,639
Median household income (dollars)	$48,669	$46,328	$48,875	$42,399	$53,929	$47,167	$44,315	$59,205	$51,023	$52,347

Source: US Census Bureau 2000 Census

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