Royalton 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 Berrien 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, ...

, a few miles southeast of the city of St. Joseph. The population was 5,141 at the 2020 census.

Communities

There are no incorporated municipalities in the township, but portions are considered to be part of the

Benton Harbor Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...

/St. Joseph urban area. The unincorporated communities of Hollywood, Scottdale, Arden, and Buckhorn are within the township.

History

Royalton Township was organized in 1835 and originally included portions of Lincoln Charter Township, Sodus Township, and St. Joseph Charter Township.

Geography

Lincoln Charter Township lies directly to the west. St. Joseph Charter Township is to the northwest. The St. Joseph River forms the eastern boundary of the township. Sodus Township lies across the river. Oronoko Charter Township lies to the south and Baroda Township to the southwest. M-139 runs northwest–southeast through the township.

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

and M-63 are accessible in the northwest of the township. 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 , or 2.49%, 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 2000, there were 3,888 people, 1,299 households, and 1,084 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,366 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.29%

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 ...

, 2.03%

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 ...

, 0.15% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 1.34% from other races, and 0.75% 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 3.42% of the population. There were 1,299 households, out of which 41.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.8% 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, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.5% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.16. In the township the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $69,375, and the median income for a family was $76,295. Males had a median income of $50,833 versus $28,750 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 $26,926. About 7.6% of families and 9.4% 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 9.4% of those under age 18 and 27.5% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Royalton Township official website
{{authority control Townships in Berrien County, Michigan Townships in Michigan