Benton Township is one of twelve

townships 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 ...

Franklin County, Illinois Franklin County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 37,804. The largest city is West Frankfort and the county seat is Benton. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt". Histo ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,662 and it contained 4,222 housing units.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Benton Township has a total area of , of which (or 98.41%) is land and (or 1.59%) is water.

Cities, towns, villages

* Benton (east three-quarters) * Hanaford

Unincorporated towns

Steel City The Steel City is a common nickname for many cities that were once known for their production of large amounts of steel. With industrial production also in developing countries, like those in Eastern Europe and Asia, most of these cities do n ...

Extinct towns

* Groat * Logan * Smothersville

Cemeteries

The township contains these nine cemeteries: Baxter, County Farm, Drummond, Franklin, Masonic and Odd Fellows, Memorial Park, New Union, Rea and Swofford.

Major highways

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in two segments. It runs through Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route north of Interstate 55, I-55. T ...

Illinois Route 14 Illinois Route 14 (IL 14) is a major east–west highway in southern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 51 south of Du Quoin to the New Harmony Toll Bridge over the Wabash River to State Road 66 at the Indiana state line. This is a distan ...

Illinois Route 34 Illinois Route 34 (IL 34) is a north–south state road in southern Illinois. It runs from a former ferry crossing to Kentucky Route 297 across the Ohio River in Rosiclare to Illinois Routes 14/ 37 in Benton. This is a distance of . R ...

Airports and landing strips

* Bessie RLA Airport

Lakes

* Vernons Lake

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 8,662 people, 3,684 households, and 2,084 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 4,222 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.35%

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 ...

, 0.44%

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 ...

, 0.35% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.00%

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 ...

, 0.72% from other races, and 4.69% 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 2.47% of the population. There were 3,684 households, out of which 27.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.92% were married couples living together, 9.93% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 43.43% were non-families. 37.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 25.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.96. The township's age distribution consisted of 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 26% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $45,299, and the median income for a family was $58,204. Males had a median income of $42,437 versus $29,199 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 $27,807. About 10.5% of families and 16.6% 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 10.9% of those under age 18 and 19.8% of those age 65 or over.

Political districts

Illinois's 12th congressional district The 12th congressional district of Illinois is a congressional district in the southern part of U.S. state of Illinois. It has been represented by Republican Mike Bost since 2015. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22, it is the most Republ ...

* State House District 117 * State Senate District 59

Notes

Adjacent townships

* Ewing Township (north) * Northern Township (northeast) * Eastern Township (east) * Cave Township (southeast) * Frankfort Township (south) * Denning Township (southwest) * Browning Township (west) * Browning Township (northwest)

References

*
United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States National Atlas

External links

{{Franklin County, Illinois Townships in Franklin County, Illinois Townships in Illinois