Michigan's Upper Peninsula has always been one of my favorite places to visit during the summer peak months.

I've been going to the U.P. since way back when I was a kid. My family and I would pack up the suitcases, throw everything into the station wagon and head straight to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

99.1 WFMK logo
Get our free mobile app

And now according to mlive.com:

The Upper Peninsula lost nearly 10,000 people, per new U.S. Census data. Rural counties struggled the most to maintain their population, and the U.P. was no different.

No one is really surprised by this current data, but many are concerned as to what needs to be done so that the Upper Peninsula can build their numbers back up and make it a prosperous move.

I can think of several reasons why Michigan's Upper Peninsula is such a great area and a great place to live:.

1. Porcupine Mountains. If you love the great outdoors and all that it has to offer. You will really like hiking the trails of Porcupine Mountains. They have more than 90 miles of hiking trails.

2. Tahquamenon Falls. This is so enjoyable for the entire family because not only do you have the Lower falls, you also have the Upper falls. Be ready for lots of walking on trails. Make sure you have really good walking shoes. The State Park covers roughly 50,000 acres. This is a very scenic area.

3. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Pictured Rocks in Munising is another fantastic  area of scenic beauty in the U.P. You can take a boat tour along the multicolored Pictured Rocks cliffs. It's a sight to see especially on a beautiful summer's day as you coast along the waters of Lake Superior.

Even though the population of the U.P. is not what it could be, there are always great reasons as to why you should make a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Mlive.com tells us:

Of the U.P.'s 15 counties, 14 of them shrunk between 2010 and 2020, per the census. Only Houghton County (up 733 residents) gained residents.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

More From 99.1 WFMK