Houghton Lake, Michigan
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Roscommon Township. It lies in ZIP code area 48629. The Survey maps it on the Houghton Lake quadrangle. 5,294 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,145 feet above sea level.
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Population over time
3 figuresHoughton Lake grew from 3,749 to 5,294 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,749 | |
| 2010 | 3,427 | -322 (-9%) |
| 2020 | 5,294 | +1,867 (+54%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Houghton Lake quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Houghton Lake quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Houghton Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
49 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Houghton Lake between 1992 and 2019, burning about 134 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | LAKE TOWNSHIP VFD 0292019 - 2019 |
| 9 August 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 July 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.5 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 July 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | PAVILLION |
| 4 July 2002 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 July 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ROSCOMMON 16 |
| 2 July 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 13 July 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ROSCOMMON 12 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Houghton Lake: 4 producers, 1 past producer, 1 prospect. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Fire Clay (Refractory). Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N.Houghton Lake Clay Sample | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Prospect | ||
| Jess Stanley Gravel Co. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Roscommon County Road Comm. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Roscommon County Road Comm. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Roscommon County Road Comm. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| State of Michigan Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
25 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Houghton Lake in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 18 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $70,000 | Many trees and power lines were downed. Some vehicles, homes, cottages, and other buildings were damaged by falling trees. |
| June 1999 | Lightning | Houghton Lake | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $45,000 | Many trees and power lines downed. More than 45 trees were downed at South Higgins Lake State Park, crushing several vehicles. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $5,000 | Several trees were downed. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $5,000 | A pontoon boat was ripped off a hoist and flipped over. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $2,000 | Two large trees downed. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | $2,000 | Trees downed at Old 27 and Deadstream Road. |
| March 2026 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | Accumulating quarter size hail, with hailstones up to the size of half-dollars. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Several trees down. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Numerous trees down. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Trees and power lines down. |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Several large trees down. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Several trees and power lines were blown down. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Several trees were blown down. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees. Some trees were toppled onto homes. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Houghton Lake | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houghton Lake Heights | 1.0 miles | 13 | |
| Nellsville | 3.0 miles | 13 | |
| Loxley | 3.5 miles | 13 | |
| Houghton Point | 4.0 miles | 13 | |
| Michelson | 6.1 miles | 12 | |
| Prudenville | 6.1 miles | 10 | |
| Meads Landing | 6.7 miles | 12 | |
| Sharps Corners | 8.5 miles | 11 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Houghton Lake | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2892388 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 628665. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





