Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 908.00 square miles (2,351.7 km2), of which 872.51 square miles (2,259.8 km2) (or 96.09%) is land and 35.49 square miles (91.9 km2) (or 3.91%) is water.

Oakland County was originally divided into 25 separate townships, which are listed below. Each township is roughly equal in size at six miles (10 km) by six miles, for a total township area of 36 square miles (93 km2). The roots of this design were born out of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the subsequent Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Oakland County itself is a prime example of the land policy that was established, as all townships are equal in size (save for slight variations due to waterways). Section 16 in each township was reserved for financing and maintaining public education, and even today many schools in Oakland County townships are located within that section.

Wayne County, where the city of Detroit is located, borders Oakland County to the south. The southern boundary is 8 Mile Road, also known as "Baseline Road" in some areas. The baseline was used during the original surveying for Michigan, and it serves as the northern/southern boundaries for counties from Lake St. Clair all the way to Lake Michigan. This divide (8 Mile Road) was historically known as an unofficial racial dividing line between the largely black city and almost exclusively white suburbs. In recent years, however, the patterns of de facto segregation have faded, as middle-class African-Americans depart the city for inner-ring suburbs, notably Southfield (75.08%), west of Woodward Avenue. Based on the 2010 Census, cities like Farmington (25.3%), Farmington Hills (31.7%), Novi (30.12%),Oak Park (62.61%), Lathrup Village (72.97%), Orchard Lake Village (16.08%), Rochester Hills (20.94%), Troy (29.4%), Wixom (26.28%), West Bloomfield (24.0%), Bloomfield (18.28%), Bloomfield Hills (14.2%), Ferndale (17.2%), and Madison Heights (17.7%) have significant non-white populations, most notably African American and Asian Americans.

Adjacent counties Lapeer County (northeast) Genesee County (northwest) Macomb County (east) Wayne County (southeast) Washtenaw County (southwest) Livingston County (west) Genesee County Genesee County Lapeer County Lapeer County Livingston County Macomb County   Oakland County, Michigan   Washtenaw County Wayne County Wayne County (Detroit)