Brighton Charter Township is a

charter township A charter township is a form of Local government in the United States, local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it cert ...

of Livingston County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 19,144. The township is bordered on the southwest by the city of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, but the two are administered autonomously.

Communities

* The city of

is located adjacent to the township, but is administratively autonomous. * Pleasant Valley was a rural post office in the southeast of the township. Elijah Marsh was the first postmaster of the office, which operated from July 24, 1837, until July 29, 1852. Marsh was succeeded by Peter Delamater and then by Melzer Bird.

Geography

The township is in the southeastern part of Livingston County and is bordered to the east by Oakland County. The

Interstate 96 Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an i ...

and U.S. Route 23 cross in the southwest part of the township. I-96 serves the township via exits 147, 150, and 151, while US 23 has access within the township only via I-96. I-96 leads east to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and west to

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

, while US 23 leads north to

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and south to

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Brighton Township has a total area of 34.6 square miles (89.6 km²), of which 33.0 square miles (85.4 km²) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.2 km²), or 4.69%, is water. Streams in the township flow west and southwest and are part of the

Huron River The Huron River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed November 7, 2011 river in southeast Michigan, southeastern Michigan, rising out of the Huron Swamp in Springfie ...

watershed leading to

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. General Motors' Milford Proving Ground is in the northeast part of the township.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 17,673 people, 5,950 households, and 5,015 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 6,177 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.29%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.43%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.29% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.31% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.22% of the population. More than 70% of the residents claim

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, Irish, English or

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

ancestry. Another 15% claim Portuguese ancestry. There were 5,950 households, out of which 42.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.7% were non-families. 12.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.25. The median Brighton Township home was worth $255,100 and over 66% of the homes are assessed between $200,000 to $500,000. About 17.6% of the population have no mortgage nor rent payment and 60% of local residents spend less than 25% of household income on housing and housing-related expenses. In the township, the population distribution was spaced with 30.0% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older with the median age at 38 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.2 males. The median income for a household in the township for 2010 was $93,327, and the median income for a family was $99,680. Males had a median income of $64,775 versus $33,328 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $38,151. About 1.8% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Most students in Brighton Township attend the Brighton Area Schools and Hartland Consolidated Schools. Also, due to the high numbers of Catholics in Brighton Township, many students attend St. Patrick's Catholic school. "St. Pat's" is a traditional Catholic school that maintains religious elements in the curriculum. There is also Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran School and Cornerstone Christian School which are Christian schools. The Brighton area also has Charyl Stockwell Academy, CSA (primary) and Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy, CSPA (middle and high school) organized under the multischool Stockwell District run by Dr. Chuck Stockwell.

References

External links

Charter Township of Brighton official website
{{Livingston County, Michigan Townships in Livingston County, Michigan Charter townships in Michigan