Lake City is a city in and county seat of Missaukee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lake City was 829.

History

thumb|left|Lake City, 1890s

The community's first settler, Daniel Reader, built his cabin on Muskrat Lake, now Lake Missaukee, in 1868. On January 22, 1872, Reeder was the name of post office open and the last name of its first postmaster, Daniel. The county selected Reeder by a one-vote margin as the county seat in 1873. The community became a station of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The community was renamed on January 25, 1877, to Lake City. Lake City was incorporated as a village and platted in 1889. The village became a city in 1932.

Education

Lake City is served by the Lake City Area Schools district. High school students are served by Lake City High School.

Transportation

Major highways

  • is an east–west highway, traversing the Lower Peninsula from Manistee on Lake Michigan to Tawas City on Lake Huron. Other communities M-55 passes through include Cadillac, Houghton Lake, Prudenville, and West Branch.
  • is a north–south highway, running from the Indiana border neat Sturgis to Charlevoix on Lake Michigan. The second-longest state trunkline highway in Michigan, M-66 passes through Battle Creek, Ionia, and the nearby communities of McBain and Kalkaska. North of Lake City, M-66 reaches a junction with M-42 which can be used to access Manton.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 836 people, 337 households, and 216 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 489 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.2% White, 1.2% African American, 1.7% Native American, 0.7% Asian, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.9% of the population.

There were 337 households, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.9% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.89.

The median age in the city was 40.5 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.5% were from 45 to 64; and 19.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.2% male and 48.8% female.

2000 census

As of the census