Grand Rapids is the second-largest city in Michigan and the largest city in West Michigan. It is on the Grand River about 30 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of over 1 million people. Grand Rapids is the county seat of Kent County.
Grand Rapids is home to five of the world’s leading office furniture companies, and is nicknamed “Furniture City”. The city and surrounding communities are economically diverse, based in the health care, information technology, automotive, aviation, and consumer goods manufacturing industries, among others.
Grand Rapids was the home of U.S. President Gerald Ford, who is buried with his wife Betty at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in the city. The city’s main airport and one of its freeways are also named after him.