According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 81.0 square miles (209.8 km2), of which 80.7 square miles (209.1 km2) is land and 0.27 square miles (0.7 km2), or 0.31%, is water.[4]
Rumely is an unincorporated community at 46°20′54″N87°01′59″W / 46.34833°N 87.03306°W / 46.34833; -87.03306 (Rumely, Michigan).[9] It was named for Mr. Rumely, who settled here from Ohio about 1873. It was a station on the Munising Railway about 1890. A post office was established on September 24, 1906, with Cyrill Valind as its first postmaster. The office closed on March 31, 1943, and was reestablished on December 16, 1947. It closed again on August 31, 1959, and is now a CPO of Eben Junction providing P.O. box service for ZIP code 49826.[7][8][10][11] The Post Office was located in the old Rumely Store, but closed in 2011 or 2012 when the store closed. The store reopened, under new ownership, in February 2015, but without any mail service.
In 2000, there were 1,213 people, 505 households, and 363 families residing in the township.[1] The racial makeup of the township was 96.13% White, 1.98% Native American, 0.08% Asian, and 1.81% from two or more races. Among them, 42.2% were of Finnish, 8.1% German, 6.5% French, 6.3% Polish and 5.6% American ancestry. By the publication of the 2020 census, its population grew to 1,231.[3]
In 2000, there were 505 households, out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.2% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the township the population was spread out, with 22.3% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.3 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the township was $32,619, and the median income for a family was $36,750. Males had a median income of $32,132 versus $24,583 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,360. About 8.1% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over. The 2021 census estimates determined the median household income was $54,677.[3]
