Lists & Structure of Governments

About Township Governments

Areas Covered by Townships

Completely or near-completely covered by townships:

Only one state, Indiana, has township governments covering all its area and population.

In five states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin), operating towns or townships comprise all territory other than that served by municipalities. The same is true for Maine and New Hampshire, except for "unorganized territory" which lacks any local government.

Partially covered by townships:

Of the remaining 12 town or township states, there are 10 where this type of government occurs only in certain county or county-type geographic areas as of early 2007:

• Illinois, in 85 of the 102 county-type areas;
• Kansas, in 95 of 105;
• Minnesota, in 85 of 87;
• Missouri, in 22 of 115;
• Nebraska, in 28 of 93;
• North Dakota, in 48 of 53;
• Pennsylvania, in 66 of 67;
• South Dakota, in 52 of 66; and
• Wisconsin, 71 of 72.

In New York, town governments exist in each county outside New York City.

Back to Municipalities and townships