West Branch TownshipMI
25% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town. 1,715 people live in this town in Michigan.
Is West Branch Township a good place to live?
The best of West Branch Township’s subject grades is an A for civic life; the weakest is a D for incomes. Homes are within reach, about $260K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Marquette area’s $65K median household income. On history, just 68 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. The biggest park or preserve is Silver Lead Creek Greenway, at 73 acres. West Branch Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes West Branch Township stand out
Where West Branch Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
98% of working residents leave West Branch Township for work
Where West Branch Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How West Branch Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far West Branch Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to West Branch Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Branch Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in West Branch Township.
Most of West Branch Township’s workers head elsewhere: there are 0.5 jobs for each of them
Jobs in West Branch Township grew by 245 from 2011 to 2021, reaching 257. Most working residents leave West Branch Township for work: only 2% work in town. For West Branch Township, the typical journey to work is 21 minutes. Among residents here, 14% live below the poverty line, where Michigan’s towns sit at 8.9% and U.S. towns at 9.6%.
| West Branch Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The climate in West Branch Township brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
West Branch Township’s midsummer high stands at 78°F, against 82°F in Michigan’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Low risk in West Branch Township, with cold waves at the top
FEMA puts 43% of West Branch Township’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 39% to inland flooding. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 63% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On CDC estimates, West Branch Township is healthier than three in five U.S. towns
The share of adults in West Branch Township who get no exercise outside work: 21%. This Michigan town beats the Michigan average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 29% of adults in West Branch Township feel lonely; 82% had a checkup this year.
| West Branch Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 80% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | West Branch Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.4% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.9% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A typical Michigan spread of ages in West Branch Township
28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan. Age groups here sit within 4 points of the Michigan average. The midpoint age in West Branch Township is 39.8 years.
| West Branch Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 39.8 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 21% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.9 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| West Branch Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.4% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.3% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.3% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.1% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.7% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.3% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.1% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.3% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.9% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
0% of West Branch Township is conserved land
Walkers can cover 10 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density for West Branch Township comes to 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (South) | — | 1,106 |
| 2. Silver Lead Creek Greenway | — | 73 |
| 3. Engman Lake Public Access | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about West Branch Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of West Branch Township
About 4 of every 100 West Branch Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About West Branch Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
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. A portion of the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base extends into the township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 876 ft
West Branch Township’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with West Branch Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Branch Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B |
| Skandia Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Forsyth Township | #461 | C+ | A− | B+ | C | C+ |
| Chocolay Township | #176 | A− | B | A− | A− | B |
West Branch Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. West Branch Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Skandia Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare West Branch Township with a neighbor →
Questions about West Branch Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is West Branch Township, MI a good place to live?
25% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town. 1,715 people live in this town in Michigan.
Is West Branch Township, MI expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.