Marquette Demographics

Marquette, on the shore of Lake Superior, is the largest city in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Offering unmatched quality of life, the City serves as a regional center for shopping, entertainment, culture, government, health care, and education.

It is the vision of the City of Marquette to become the premiere livable, walkable, winter city in North America. Downtown is a major component of that vision. Working toward that goal, the City and the Downtown are part of the larger regional "Creative Cities" economic development initiative and is working to become one of the "best places" in the U.S. to live, work, visit and play.

Regional tourism is a major component in the overall economy of Marquette. Several nationally recognized events: the Noquemanon Ski Marathon, the Ore to Shore Bike Race, the Superior Bike Fest, and the U.P. 200 Sled Dog Race each draw several thousand participants and spectators each year.

The Historic Downtown remains the center of the Community. Marquette's Downtown District stretches along Washington Street from the Lakefront to Seventh and along Front Street from Ridge to Rock Street. Within the district are specialty retail businesses, restaurants, financial institutions, a four-screen movie theater, two hotels, a concentration of law, dental, medical, and other professional offices, a 52,000 square foot public library, the U.P. Children's Museum, the County Historic Museum, the Marquette Maritime Museum, and the City Art and Culture Center. Downtown is the home to City, County, and Federal Government offices, the Post Office and the local newspaper. The addition of national retailers at the West End of the City in Marquette Township is establishing Marquette as a regional shopping center and tends to generate additional traffic into downtown specialty shops. According to recent statistics the current trade area includes approximately 200,689 persons. The Downtown is experiencing a resurgence of growth and private investment with more than $40 million of private and $10 million of public investment during the last five years. Downtown district property value has increased nearly 85 percent since 1991.

Current Population of Marquette City: 19,661
Current Population of Marquette County: 64,383
Current Population of the Upper Peninsula: 317,616
Current Enrollment of Northern Michigan University: 9,016

Status By Gender & Minority Group

Female 49.8%
White 95.1%
Black 1.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.5%

Household median income:

Marquette County $60,264
Marquette City $55,111
2000 Per Capita Income - Marquette County $22,526

Workforce Statistics:

Current Workforce within the City of Marquette: 10,675
Current Employees within the Downtown District: 2,036

Major Marquette Employers:

Marquette General Hospital: 2,918
Northern Michigan University: 1,147
Marquette Area Public Schools 691
Pathways Mental Health: 500
Peninsula Medical Center 600
Michigan Department of Corrections 526
Taystee Bakery 250
City of Marquette 398
Marquette County 300
Wisconsin Electric 206
The Mining Journal Newspaper 101

Did you know?

Marquette is the Premiere City in an All-American County, 2003 Award
Marquette is one of the 30 "Most Livable" by Partners for Livable Communities
Marquette has been named one of the 100 Best Small Art Towns in America
Marquette has been recognized by Bike Magazine as one of the top 5 places in the U.S. to bike and Live

Marquette Major Events:

Tourism is a major component of Marquette's economy. The 2006 data indicate a six percent increase in the tourism industry over 2005. Statistics reveal that each major event brings in an average of 7,000 participants and spectators. The annual winter events including four major hockey tournaments, the UP 200 Dog Sled Races, and the Noquemanen Ski Race each bring between approximately 7,500 visitors during the winter months. Northern Michigan University, home of the U.S. Olympic Education Center, was selected as the site for both the U.S. Speedskating World Cup and the 2006 Olympic Short Track Speed Skating Qualifiers in 2005.

July - International Food Fest 7,600
"Art on the Rocks" 7-8,000
August - Maritime Month 14,000
Ore to Shore Bike Race 6,000
September - Seafood Fest 7,500
Blues Festival 5,500
October thru March - Hockey Tournaments 17,000
January - Noquemanon Ski Race 6,000
February - UP 200 Dog Sled Races 5,500
June - Superior Bike Fest and 4,000
Downtown criterion

Traffic Counts:

Baraga Avenue, north to Washington Street: 14, 000 vehicles per day
Washington Street, west to Seventh Street: 11,700 vehicles per day

Education

Marquette is home to Northern Michigan University (NMU) a comprehensive, four-year public university, with a student population of nearly 9,000. It is the vision of NMU to become "the University of Choice in the Midwest..." Estimated local expenditures by NMU's students (not including university tuition and fees) exceed $31 million annually. More than 24,000 visitors spend nearly $4 million annually for travel to Marquette to attend NMU related events.

Health Care

Marquette General Hospital, the regional medical facility of the Upper Peninsula and eastern Wisconsin is responsible for more than 75,000 visitors each year. The Upper Peninsula Medical Center is a regional medical center that houses 120 physicians and health care providers. Over one-half million patients visit the Center annually.

Culture and Entertainment

Marquette offers a wide range of artistic, cultural, and entertainment events. The City is home to a symphony orchestra, summer theater, year round offerings through the University and Community, and is the home of countless galleries several nationally renowned artists.

Parking

Several current and recently completed projects have been directed at providing more accessible and convenient parking in the downtown. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) DA has built several mid-block walkways to facilitate the flow of pedestrian traffic from centrally located public parking lots to businesses in the downtown.

There are 1,235 public parking spaces downtown.

700 spaces are available customer parking
563 of those spaces are on-street parking
- Less than 20% of on-street parking is metered
- 451 are Free 2-hour Customer Parking
114 are covered Free 4-hour Customer Parking
442 are rental spaces for downtown employees

Long-term parking meters (10 hour) are available throughout the district

Average utilization of public parking spaces downtown is 73%
The value of prime parking spaces is anywhere from $150-$300 in retail sales per day.
Each prime parking space "turns-over" an average of 4.5 times per day effectively serving 4 to 5 customers per day