Marlette is known as "The Heart of the Thumb" due to its location in Michigan. It is a small community with a golf course, public pool, and a municipal airport. Crops grown here include corn, beans and sugar beets. Marlette is a closely knit rural community, an hour drive will take you to several urban centers such as Saginaw, Bay City, Flint and Port Huron. It is considered a part of the Flint/Tri-Cities region.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,104 people, 787 households, and 497 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,277.3 per square mile (492.3/km²). There were 839 housing units at an average density of 509.4/sq mi (196.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.82% White, 2.28% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 1.47% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.52% of the population.
There were 787 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,938, and the median income for a family was $37,880. Males had a median income of $33,250 versus $21,725 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,592. About 9.0% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.