Richfield 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 Roscommon 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 3,545 at the 2020 census.

Communities

*Artesia Beach is an unincorporated community located on the southwest shores of Lake St. Helen on the township line with Higgins Township at . *Au Sable River Park is an unincorporated community located along the South Branch of the Au Sable River at . *Geels is an unincorporated community located in the northwest corner of the township at . Geels was founded along the Michigan Central Railroad as a midway point between Roscommon and St. Helen. A post office opened on May 18, 1914 but is no longer in operation. *Maple Valley is an unincorporated community located along the township line with Backus Township at . Maple Valley began as a settlement in 1907. * St. Helen is an unincorporated community 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 ...

located within the township.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (5.51%) is water. The majority of Lake St. Helen is located within Richfield Township. The Marsh Creek / Beaver Lake Flooding State Wildlife Management Area is also located within the township.

Major highways

* runs west–east through the central portion of the township. * runs concurrent with Interstate 75 through the township. * is a short county-designated highway within the township. * runs through the township. * M-76_1948

M-76 is a former state highway that was commissioned from 1919–1973. It has various local names but may still carry the Old M-76 name.

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 4,139 people, 1,896 households, and 1,239 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,760 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.99%

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 ...

, 0.07%

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 ...

, 0.89% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.05%

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 ...

, 0.12% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 0.82% of the population were

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. There were 1,896 households, out of which 19.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.65. In the township the population was spread out, with 19.3% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $26,806, and the median income for a family was $32,241. Males had a median income of $31,000 versus $21,113 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 $17,282. 15.9% of the population and 10.4% of families 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 ...

. Out of the total population, 25.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

References

Sources

External links

Official website
{{authority control Townships in Roscommon County, Michigan Townships in Michigan