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 The MCDs of the 12 Midwestern States evolved from the township and range system of survey townships. These survey townships, in turn, provided the geographic basis for organizing units of local government, which were called civil townships. Many civil townships consist of a single survey township. The MCDs of 11 Midwestern States use the term townships; Wisconsin uses the term town. Starting with the 1990 census, the Census Bureau also recognizes, as a separate category, charter townships in Michigan.

These MCDs, for the most part, perform less of a governmental role and are less well known locally than their counterparts in the Northeast and the Middle Atlantic States. There are exceptions—the charter townships of Michigan, the urban townships of Minnesota, and the towns of Wisconsin—all of which have the legal capacity to provide all the governmental services associated with incorporated places. In most of the other Midwestern States, the primary governmental function of township governments is the building and/or maintenance of the local roads and bridges; however, some townships, particularly in Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio, may provide fire protection, refuse disposal, libraries, cemeteries, hospitals, zoning regulation, and other types of services. In Missouri, only 23 counties have townships that are local governmental units; the 91 other counties have townships that cannot raise taxes for general-purpose government and thus are classified as nonfunctioning areal units. In Iowa, the governmental functions of the townships are so minimal that they are not recognized as general-purpose governments for the Census Bureau’s Census of Governments.

In most of Nebraska, and in 17 counties in southern and central Illinois, the survey townships never developed local governments. In these areas, the election precincts, generally based on survey townships, serve as MCDs. There also are significant areas of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as one area in Iowa and one in Kansas, that have no MCDs. In these areas, the Census Bureau has established UTs to provide statewide coverage at the county subdivision level. County Subdivisions8-23