Shelby Charter Township, Michigan

Shelby Charter Township, officially the Charter Township of Shelby, is a charter township located in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township is an affluent northern suburb of Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,408, up from 73,804 in 2010. Shelby Charter Township is one of the fastest-growing communities in Metro Detroit.

Shelby Township was set off by an act of the Michigan Territorial Legislature on April 12, 1827, and a civil government was organized the following May. It originally included the area that is now Sterling Heights, which was set off March 17, 1835, as the township of Jefferson, renamed to Sterling on March 6, 1838. Utica, located on the southern edge of the township, originally incorporated as a village on March 9, 1838, although that corporation was dissolved soon afterwards. The village was incorporated for a second time on May 10, 1877.

The village of Disco (42°41′02″N 83°02′04″W / 42.68389°N 83.03444°W / 42.68389; -83.03444 (Disco)) was located at what is now the junction of 24 Mile Road and Van Dyke Road. and was platted in 1849. The community never incorporated, although the local high school, the Disco Academy, gained some local recognition and a post office named Disco operated from May 5, 1854, until July 31, 1906. Only a few homes and a namesake on old county road maps remain of this now forgotten historic place. See also: "The Lost Village of Disco" on the Shelby Township Historical Society website.

Shelby Township is in western Macomb County and is bordered to the west by the cities of Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County. The cities of Utica and Sterling Heights border the township to the south. Mount Clemens, the Macomb county seat, is 11 miles (18 km) to the southeast, and downtown Detroit is 24 miles (39 km) to the south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.2 square miles (91 km²), of which 34.4 square miles (89 km²) are land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), or 2.31%, are water. The township is drained by the Clinton River, a tributary of Lake St. Clair.

There are no incorporated villages and four unincorporated communities:

Shelby Charter Township sits on two main thoroughfares:

As of the census of 2010, there were 73,804 people, 28,299 households, and 17,923 families living in the township. The racial makeup of the township was 89.4% White, 3.1% African American, 3.3% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.