RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Bay City ...

The city of Bay City is located in Bay County<1> and is the County Seat for Bay County.

Bay City was founded in 1837 and was incorporated in 1865.

When the people of Bay City refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Bay Cityan<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Bay City has a population of 32,661 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Bay City is 600 feet [183 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Bay City lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Bay City: 989

The ZIP codes for Bay City: 48706-48708<5>

Going back to its beginning, Bay City was originally named Lower Saginaw. For more information about the names of Bay City, see The Names of Bay City on our Genealogy Page.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Bay City had an population of 32,661 people. This is a decrease of 6.5% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 11.29% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Bay City had a population of 34,932 people (or 32.44% of the total population of Bay County). This makes Bay City the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Bay City represents 0.35% of the total population of Michigan (which has 9,883,640 people), making it the state's 32nd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 34,932 people, the population of Bay City decreased 5.12% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 36,817 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Bay City.

Communities Also Named Bay City ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Bay City - they are located in Colorado, Florida (2), Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bay City.

Websites for Bay City ...

Official Website:   www.baycitymi.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.baycityarea.com/

Communities near Bay City ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bay City.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bay City. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bay City.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bay City. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bay City.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay City. Our list includes 72 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Bay City.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bay City ...

Looking for more information about Bay City? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Bay City, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Bay City.

Adding Bay City to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bay City in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bay City was on a map titled Road Map for Michigan (from Shell Oil, 1956).

We also found Bay City in the book titled .<9> X3X - From that list, the Bay City post office opened in 1858.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bay City.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Michigan's counties, including Bay, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Bay City refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Bay City may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Bay City.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bay City - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Bay City). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Bay City or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Bay City includes: 48706, 48707 & 48708.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/