Garfield Township is a civil township of Clare County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,807 at the 2020 census.

Communities

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.77 sqmi, of which 33.39 sqmi is land and 2.38 sqmi (6.65%) is water.

Major highways

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,968 people, 852 households, and 581 families residing in the township. The population density was 58.9 PD/sqmi. There were 1,936 housing units at an average density of 58.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the township was 98.07% White, 0.66% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.86% of the population. There were 852 households, out of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.68. In the township the population was spread out, with 21.4% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $29,038, and the median income for a family was $32,813. Males had a median income of $26,357 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the township was $17,209. About 6.7% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.1% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The entire township is served by Farwell Area Schools to the east in the village of Farwell.