| Official Name: | West Branch Township, Michigan |
| Settlement Type: | Civil township |
| Pushpin Map: | Michigan#USA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Label: | West Branch Township |
| Mapsize: | 250 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Michigan |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Marquette |
| Leader Title: | Supervisor |
| Leader Name: | Jack Heidtman |
| Leader Title1: | Clerk |
| Leader Name1: | Michelle Christal |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 35.77 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 35.48 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.29 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 1702 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 48.0 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation M: | 267 |
| Elevation Ft: | 876 |
| Coordinates: | 46.3578°N -87.3294°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Codes |
| Postal Code: | 49855 (Marquette) 49885 (Skandia) 49841 (Gwinn) |
| Area Code: | 906 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 26-103-85540[3] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1627246 |
West Branch Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,702 at the 2020 census.[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.77sqmi, of which 35.48sqmi are land and 0.29sqmi (0.81%) are water.[1] The township is drained by tributaries of the Chocolay River, a north-flowing tributary of Lake Superior. 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.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,648 people, 596 households, and 448 families residing in the township. The population density was 46.4sp=usNaNsp=us. 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, 0.30% African American, 2.97% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 1.46% from other races, and 3.16% from two or more races. Hispanic 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 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 for the township was $14,685. About 14.0% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.