Bessemer Township, Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bessemer Township is a civil township of Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 1,270.
[edit] Communities
- The City of Bessemer is situated within the township, but is politically independent.
- Ramsay is an unincorporated community within the township at . It is on the Black River just south of U.S. Highway 2 a few miles west of Wakefield and a few miles east of Bessemer.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 298.9 km² (115.4 mi²). 294.8 km² (113.8 mi²) of it is land and 4.0 km² (1.6 mi²) of it (1.35%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 1,270 people, 578 households, and 362 families residing in the township. The population density was 4.3/km² (11.2/mi²). There were 946 housing units at an average density of 3.2/km² (8.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.24% White, 0.39% African American, 0.71% Native American, 0.31% Asian, and 1.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.16% of the population.
There were 578 households out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the township the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.6 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $27,000, and the median income for a family was $32,941. Males had a median income of $27,381 versus $21,607 for females. The per capita income for the township was $18,917. About 7.7% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.