Leelanau County

county in Michigan, United States

Key facts

Country: United States
State: Michigan
Founded: 1840 (created), 1863 (organized)
Named after: Leelanau Peninsula
Seat: Suttons Bay Township
Largest settlement: Greilickville , Suttons Bay (incorporated)
Total: 2,532 sq mi (6,560 km )
Land: 347 sq mi (900 km )
Water: 2,185 sq mi (5,660 km ) 86%
Estimate 2025: 22,982
Density: 63/sq mi (24/km )
Time zone: UTC−5 ( Eastern )
Summer dst

Article

Leelanau County (/ˈliːlənɔː/ LEE-lə-naw) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,301. Since 2008, the county seat has been located within Suttons Bay Township, one mile east of the unincorporated village of Lake Leelanau. Before 2008, Leelanau County's seat was Leland. Leelanau County is included in the Traverse City metropolitan area of Northern Michigan. The largest settlement in Leelanau County by population is Greilickville, itself a suburb of Traverse City.

Leelanau County is coterminous with the Leelanau Peninsula, a roughly triangular-shaped peninsula that extends about 30 miles (50 km) off Michigan's Lower Peninsula into Lake Michigan. East of Leelanau County is Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.