Banks Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Carbon County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It is part of

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

. The population was 1,164 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Banks Township is located in western Carbon County and is bordered by

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

to the north and Schuylkill County to the west. Its southern border approximately follows the crest of Spring Mountain. The township surrounds the borough of Beaver Meadows but is separate from it. Its villages include Audenried, Coxes, Junedale, and Tresckow. According to the

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

, the township has a total area of , all of it land. Most of it is drained by Black Creek east into the

Lehigh River The Lehigh River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward ...

, except for the Audenried area which is drained west by Catawissa Creek into the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

. Banks has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'') and the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

s are 5b and 6a. Average monthly temperatures in Junedale range from 23.7 °F in January to 69.8 °F in July

Neighboring municipalities

* Lausanne Township, Pennsylvania, Lausanne Township (east) * Weatherly (east) * Packer Township (south) * Kline Township, Schuylkill County (west) * McAdoo, Schuylkill County (west) * Hazle Township, Luzerne County (north) Banks Township surrounds the borough of Beaver Meadows.

Transportation

As of 2020, there were of public roads in Banks Township, of which were maintained by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT) and were maintained by the township. Route 93 passes through the township and Beaver Meadows, leading northwest to Hazleton and southeast to

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Carbon County. Route 309 runs through the extreme west of the township via Audenried on its way between Hazleton to the north and Tamaqua to the south.

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 1,359 people, 570 households, and 384 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 620 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.90%

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 ...

, 0.37%

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, 0.07% Asian, 0.15%

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 ...

, and 0.22% 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 0.81% of the population. There were 570 households, out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% 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, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.89. In the township, the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $32,083, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $31,534 versus $26,157 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 $16,186. About 7.6% of families and 9.1% 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 13.8% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Populated places established in 1842 Townships in Carbon County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania