Manistee County is a county located in Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 25,032. The county seat is Manistee. The county is named for the Manistee River. Manistee County is part of Northern Michigan and has a shoreline on Lake Michigan.
Manistee County was set off in 1840 from Michilimackinac County as an unorganized county. In 1851, it was attached to Grand Traverse County for legal purposes. Manistee County was organized in its own right on February 13, 1855.
The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from ministigweyaa, "river with islands at its mouth".