Berlin Township is a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

of Ionia 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 2,138.

History

Berlin Township was organized in 1839 with Alonzo Sessions as the first supervisor.

Communities

* Berlin Center is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

near the center of the township at . *Doris was the name of a post office in this township from 1899 until 1901. *Gridley was the name of a post office here from 1900 to 1901. * The city of

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

is adjacent to the northeast and has incorporated a small portion of land in the township. * The village of

Saranac Saranac may refer to a place name in the United States: * Saranac, Michigan, a village ;New York * Saranac, New York, a town in Clinton County * Saranac Lake, New York, a large village in Franklin and Essex counties * Upper Saranac Lake * Middle Sa ...

is adjacent to the west.

Geography

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 ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.64%) is water.

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 , there were 2,787 people, 689 households, and 547 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 724 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 81.59% White, 13.81% African American, 1.40% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.79% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population. There were 689 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.7% 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, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.6% were non-families. 17.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 2.98. In the township the population was spread out, with 16.9% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 40.1% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 200.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 234.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $48,158, and the median income for a family was $55,852. Males had a median income of $40,867 versus $27,563 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 $16,780. About 4.0% of families and 5.9% 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 4.8% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{Authority control Townships in Ionia County, Michigan Grand Rapids metropolitan area 1839 establishments in Michigan Townships in Michigan