Byron 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 Kent County in the U.S. state of

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, ...

. The population was 26,927 at the 2010 census, an increase from 20,317 at the 2010 census. Byron Township is part of the

Grand Rapids metropolitan area The Grand Rapids metropolitan area is a triangular shaped Metro Triplex, in West Michigan, which fans out westward from the primary hub city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the other two metro hubs of Muskegon and Holland. The metropolitan are ...

and is located just southwest of the city of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Communities

* Byron 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

at the center of the township. The Byron Center 49315 ZIP Code serves most of the township. * Carlisle (or West Carlisle) is mostly historical community in the township at . Carlisle was a station on the

Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at its height provided passenger and freight railroad services between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, USA. The company was formed on January 18, 1854. Beginnings After grapp ...

. A post office named "West Carlisle" operated here from March 1884 until September 1910. *

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

is an unincorporated community in the southeast part of the township on the boundary with Gaines Township. * Cutlerville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the northeast of the township, with part of the CDP extending east into Gaines Township. * North Byron is an unincorporated community near the northern boundary of the township at . It began as a settlement named "Scudderville" on Rush Creek with a station on the

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinoi ...

. It was named for Henry W. Scudder, a local landowner. A post office named "North Byron" operated from October 1862 to December 1879 and from March 1894 to September 1903. * North Dorr is a small community at the boundary between Byron Township and Dorr Township in Allegan County to the south. * Ross is a mostly historical community in the southeast part of the township at . Ross began as a depot on the

and was first named "Ross Station". It was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted by William Thornton for William Ross in 1871. A post office was established in June 1871 with Daniel Ross as the first postmaster.

History

Byron Township was established in 1836.

Geography

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 , of which is land and (0.19%) is water.

Major highways

* runs south–north near the eastern edge of the township. * runs west–east near the northern edge of the township and has an interchange with U.S. Route 131.

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 2020, there were 26,933 people, the racial makeup of the city was 81.1%

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, 4.2% Black or African American, 2.7% Asian, 0.2% Native American, and 6.6% 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 people of any race were 6.6% of the population. As of the

of 2000, there were 17,553 people, 6,454 households, and 4,711 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 6,712 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.79%

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 ...

, 1.21%

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 ...

, 0.32% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 1.17% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 2.77% of the population. There were 6,454 households, out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% 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, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.18. In the township the population was spread out, with 29.0% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $49,672, and the median income for a family was $56,701. Males had a median income of $42,664 versus $26,449 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 $24,206. About 2.5% of families and 4.1% 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 4.4% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Michigan grocery distributor and retail operator SpartanNash (formerly known as Spartan Stores) is headquartered in the township.

Education

Byron Township is served by four different public school districts. The majority of the township is served by Byron Center Public Schools, while a small portion of the northeast corner in Cutlerville is served by Kentwood Public Schools. A very small portion of the northern edge of the township is served by

Grandville Public Schools Grandville Public Schools is a school district in Grandville, Michigan, United States. Attendance area In Kent County it includes almost all of Grandville, sections of Walker and Wyoming, small parts of Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is th ...

, and another very small portion on the southern edge of the township is served by Wayland Union Schools.

References

External links

Byron Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Michigan Townships in Kent County, Michigan Grand Rapids metropolitan area Populated places established in 1836 1836 establishments in Michigan Territory