Negaunee is home to Pioneer Days, a festival held every year the week following July 4th, Heikki Lunta Winterfest, and the Negaunee Invitational Basketball Tournament.
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,576 people, 1,946 households, and 1,218 families residing in the city. The population density was 332.1 per square mile (128.2/km²). There were 2,088 housing units at an average density of 151.5/sq mi (58.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.63% White, 0.28% African American, 1.29% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population. 28.8% were of Finnish, 14.5% Italian, 14.0% English, 9.3% German, 8.9% Swedish and 5.8% French ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.7% spoke English, 1.7% Spanish and 1.5% Finnish as their first language.
There were 1,946 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,117, and the median income for a family was $39,750. Males had a median income of $36,026 versus $22,380 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,889. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.