Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, behind neighboring Wayne County. The county seat is Pontiac. The county was founded in 1819 and organized in 1820.Oakland County is composed of 62 cities, townships, and villages, and is part of the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city of Detroit is in neighboring Wayne County, south of 8 Mile Road. In 2010, Oakland County was among the ten highest income counties in the United States that have populations over one million people.  It is also home to Oakland University, a large public institution that straddles the border between the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.
The county's knowledge-based economic initiative, coined "Automation Alley", has developed one of the largest employment centers for engineering and related occupations in the United States, and some major employers include General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, collectively known as the Big Three.




As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 434,822 households and 301.732 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 465,137 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 71.4% White (66.2% non-Hispanic white), 14.

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