West Branch 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 Marquette 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, ...

. The population was 1,702 at the 2020 census. A portion of the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base extends into the township.

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 are land and (0.81%) are water. The township is drained by tributaries of the Chocolay River, a north-flowing tributary of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

. The West Branch of the Chocolay runs southwest to northeast across the south-central part of the township, and the East Branch runs northward through the southeast part of the township.

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 1,648 people, 596 households, and 448 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 889 housing units at an average density of 25.1 per square mile (9.7/km). The racial makeup of the township was 91.63%

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 ...

, 0.30%

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 ...

, 2.97% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 1.46% from other races, and 3.16% 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 1.76% of the population. There were 596 households, out of which 45.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% 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, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.13. In the township the population was spread out, with 33.6% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $30,183, and the median income for a family was $31,797. Males had a median income of $31,917 versus $30,446 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 $14,685. About 14.0% of families and 17.1% 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 20.9% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

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