Palmer is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Marquette County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) for statistical purposes and has no legal status as an incorporated municipality. The CDP had a population of 378 at the 2020 census. It is located within Richmond Township along M-35. The Palmer 49871 ZIP Code serves an area slightly larger than that of the CDP.

Geography

Palmer is in central Marquette County, by road south of Negaunee and southwest of Marquette, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. The community is served by M-35, a highway that leads north to US Highway 41/ M-28 between Negaunee and Marquette and south to Gwinn. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Palmer CDP has a total area of , all land. The community is drained by Warner Creek, a south-flowing tributary of the East Branch of the

Escanaba River The Escanaba River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed December 19, 2011 river on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

Demographics

At the 2000

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 449 people, 177 households and 109 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 193 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.44%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.34% Native American, 0.22% Asian, and 2.00% from two or more races. There were 177 households, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.99. 19.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 24.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $29,063 and the median family income was $38,750. Males had a median income of $36,528 compared with $25,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $21,309. About 6.9% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Business

Palmer was flanked by the Empire Mine, owned by Cleveland-Cliffs, but the mine's operations have stopped since August 2016. Fran's gas station, the only remaining gas station, closed around late 2018. Trewhella's IGA grocery store, founded in 1961, closed years ago. The radio station WRUP/98.3 changed its CDP of license from Munising to Palmer in 2009, as it targets listeners in Marquette.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Palmer has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Palmer, Michigan
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References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Marquette County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Marquette County, Michigan