Michigan Primary Election 2012: A Look At The Wolverine State

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A profile of Michigan, site of a Republican presidential primary election on Tuesday:

NUMBERS:

Population: 9,875,187

AGE:

Median age: 38.9

Percentage of population 65 and over: 13.8

Percentage of population 85 and over: 1.9

RACE:

78.9 percent white, 14.2 percent black, 2.4 percent Asian, 0.6 percent American Indian, 1.5 percent other, 2.3 percent two or more races, 4.4 percent Hispanic or Latino origin

LANGUAGE:

Language other than English spoken at home: 8.9 percent

EDUCATION:

High school graduate: 88 percent

Bachelor's degree or higher: 25 percent

MONEY:

Median household income: $48,432

People below poverty level: 14.8 percent

Housing units occupied by owners: 72.1 percent

Housing units occupied by renters: 27.9 percent

2008 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS:

Barack Obama, 57 percent; John McCain, 41 percent.

REGISTERED VOTERS:

7.3 million

MICHIGAN QUICK FACTS:

_ Michigan had the nation's highest unemployment rate for years and endured a decade of economic woes. The state's December unemployment rate dropped to 9.3 percent from a high in August 2009 of 14.1 percent. Michigan now ranks 10th nationally, but remains above the national rate of 8.5 percent.

_ Michigan last year added 80,000 manufacturing, service and other jobs, making it among the states recovering fastest from the recession.

_ Besides being a leading manufacturer of cars and trucks, Michigan is the nation's top producer of tart cherries. It's also among national leaders for prepared cereals, machine tools, sugar beets and furniture.

_ Michigan has 11,000 inland lakes and 36,000 streams and is the only state adjoining four of the five Great Lakes.

_ It has 3,288 miles of shoreline, more than any state except Alaska.