Before Euro-American migration, this was the location of an Odawa village. The leader of the Odaw here was Cobmoosa. His people planted crops here in 1833 but when Dexter and his associates arrived, they sold these crops to

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.48 square miles (14.19 km ), of which 5.35 square miles (13.86 km ) is land and 0.13 square miles (0.34 km ) is water. Ionia is between Michigan's capital, Lansing, and its second largest city,

Ionia Correctional Facility and the Michigan Reformatory are major employers in Ionia. Both are located to the west of downtown along Bluewater Highway

• Frances E. Burns (1866-1937), social leader and business woman
• Fred W. Green, the only Governor (1927-1931) to be elected from Ionia.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,394 people, 2,428 households, and 1,520 families living in the city. The population density was

The city levies an income tax of 1 percent on residents and 0.5 percent on nonresidents.

• M-21
• M-66