Mecosta 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 ...

Mecosta County Mecosta County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 39,714. The county seat is Big Rapids, Michigan, Big Rapids. The county is named ...

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 2,744 as of the 2020 census. The village of Mecosta, which is also in Mecosta County, is in Morton Township, several miles to the east.

Geography

Mecosta Township is in western Mecosta County and is bordered to the west by

Newaygo County Newaygo County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 49,978. The county seat is White Cloud. The county was created in 1840, and was organized in 1851. It was either named for a ...

. The village of Stanwood is in the southeast part of the township, bordered to the east by Austin Township.

Big Rapids Big Rapids is a city and the county seat, seat of government of Mecosta County, Michigan, United States. The population was 7,727 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 10,601 in 2010 United States census, 2010. The city is sur ...

, the Mecosta

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 ...

, is north of Mecosta Township's northern border. 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 are land and , or 5.33%, are water. The

Muskegon River The Muskegon River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Fr ...

flows across the township from northeast to southwest, widening to form Rogers Dam Pond in the northeast and the upstream end of Hardy Dam Pond in the southwest.

U.S. Route 131 US Highway 131 (US 131) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway, of which all but 0.64 of its 269.96 miles (1.03 of 434.46 km) are within the state of Michigan. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state lin ...

crosses the center of the township, leading north to Big Rapids and south to

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 ...

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 2,435 people, 938 households, and 681 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,184 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 96.92%

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 ...

, 0.49%

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 ...

, 0.66% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.21%

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 ...

, 0.29% from other races, and 1.31% 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 1.36% of the population. There were 938 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% 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, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $37,287, and the median income for a family was $42,321. Males had a median income of $32,337 versus $22,219 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 $18,494. About 6.7% of families and 11.5% 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 17.4% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

* Charles C. Johnson (born 1864), Michigan state representative

References

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Mecosta County, Michigan Townships in Michigan