Administrative division at the local government level in the United States
A Shaker village's main street in Massachusetts.
In the United States, the meaning of village varies by geographic area and legal jurisdiction. In formal usage, a "village" is a type of administrative division at the local government level. Since the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from legislating on local government, the states are free to have political subdivisions called "villages" or not to and to define the word in many ways. Typically, a village is a type of municipality, although it can also be a special district or an unincorporated area. It may or may not be recognized for governmental purposes.
In informal usage, a U.S. village may be simply a relatively small clustered human settlement without formal legal existence. In colonial New England, a village typically formed around the meetinghouses that were located in the center of each town.[1] Many of these colonial settlements still exist as town centers. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, industrial villages also sprang up around water-powered mills, mines, and factories.[1] Because most New England villages were contained within the boundaries of legally established towns, many such villages were never separately incorporated as municipalities.
A relatively small unincorporated community, similar to a hamlet in New York state, or even a relatively small community within an incorporated city or town, may be termed a village. This informal usage may be found even in states that have villages as incorporated municipalities and is similar to the usage of the term "unincorporated town" in states having town governments.
States that formally recognize villages vary widely in the definition of the term.[2] Most commonly, a village is either a special district or a municipality. As a municipality, a village may
differ from a city or town in terms of population;
differ from a city in terms of dependence on a township; or
be virtually equivalent to a city or town.
By state
Alaska
Under Article 10, Section 2 of the Alaska Constitution, as well as law enacted pursuant to the constitution, Alaska legally recognizes only cities and boroughs as municipal entities in Alaska.[3] In Alaska, "village" is a colloquial term used to refer to small communities, which are mostly located in the rural areas of the state, often unconnected to the contiguous North American road system. Many of these communities are populated predominantly by Alaska Natives and are federally recognized as villages under the Indian Reorganization Act and/or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. As voting membership in the Alaska Municipal League is on an equal footing, regardless of population, most villages are incorporated as second-class cities. In common usage, however, these communities are thought of more often as villages than as cities.
Connecticut
Village districts are subordinate agencies of municipal governments rather than municipalities in their own right.[2]
Delaware
Municipalities in Delaware are called cities, towns, or villages. There are no differences among them that would affect their classification for census purposes.[2]
Florida
Municipalities in Florida are called cities, towns, or villages.[2] They are not differentiated for census purposes.
Idaho
All municipalities in Idaho are called cities, although the terms "town" and "village" are sometimes used in statutes.[2]
Illinois
A village is a type of incorporated municipality in Illinois; the other two types are the city and the incorporated town.[2] All incorporated municipalities, regardless of type, are independent of each other, and cannot overlap. Villages can be created by referendum under the general state law or by special state charter. The governing body is a board of six elected trustees and an elected village president, all of whom are usually elected at-large.
Louisiana
A village in Louisiana is a municipality having a population of 1,000 or fewer.[2]
Maine
In Maine, village corporations or village improvement corporations are special districts established in towns for limited purposes.[2]
In Michigan, villages differ from cities in that, whereas villages remain part of the townships in which they are formed, thereby reducing their home-rule powers, cities are not part of townships. Because of this, village governments are required to share some of the responsibilities to their residents with the township.[2]
A village in Mississippi is a municipality of 100 to 299 inhabitants. They may no longer be created.[2]
Missouri
The municipalities of Missouri are cities, towns, and villages. Unlike cities, villages have no minimum population requirement.[2]
Nebraska
In Nebraska, a village is a municipality of 100 through 800 inhabitants, whereas a city must have at least 800 inhabitants. In counties having townships, all villages, but only some cities, are within township areas. A city of the second class (800-5,000 inhabitants) may elect to revert to village status.[2]
New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, a village district or precinct may be organized within a town. Such a village district or precinct is a special district with limited powers.[2]
A village in the context of New Jersey local government, refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government. Villages in New Jersey are of equal standing to other municipalities, such as cities, towns, boroughs, and townships.
New Mexico
The municipalities in New Mexico are cities, towns, and villages. There are no differences among them that would affect their classification for census purposes.[2]
In New York, a village is an incorporated area that differs from a city in that a village is within the jurisdiction of one or more towns, whereas a city is independent of a town. Villages thus have less autonomy than cities.[2]
A village is usually, but not always, within a single town. A village may be coterminous with, and have a consolidated government with, a town. A village is a clearly defined municipality that provides the services closest to the residents, such as garbage collection, street and highway maintenance, street lighting and building codes. Some villages provide their own police and other optional services. Those municipal services not provided by the village are provided by the town or towns containing the village. As of the 2000 census, there are 553 villages in New York.
There is no limit to the population of a village in New York; Hempstead, the largest village in the state, has 55,000 residents, making it more populous than some of the state's cities. However, villages in the state may not exceed five square miles (13km2) in area. Present law requires a minimum of 500 residents to incorporate as a village.
North Carolina
The municipalities in North Carolina are cities, towns, and villages. There are no significant differences in legal power or status.[2]
In Ohio, a village is an incorporated municipality with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, excluding residents of educational or correctional facilities.[2][6] The minimum population for incorporation as a village is 1,600 inhabitants, but this was not always the case, resulting in many very small villages.[7] If an existing village's population surpasses 5,000 at a federal census, or if a village comes to have more than 5,000 resident registered voters, it is automatically designated as a city.[6] Cities or villages may be located within township areas; however, if a city or village becomes coterminous with a township, the township ceases to exist as a separate government (see paper township).[8]
In Oregon, the municipal governments are cities, towns, and villages, although there is no significance in their legal powers or status.[2] Also, one county — Clackamas County — permits the organization of unincorporated areas into villages and hamlets. The boards of such entities are advisory to the county.[9]
Texas
In Texas, villages may be Type B or Type C municipalities, but not Type A municipalities. The types differ in terms of population and in terms of the forms of government that they may adopt.[2]
Virginia
In Virginia, a village is defined as a tract of land with more than 300 people where livestock are not allowed to roam free. Villages are erected by local circuit courts. [10]
In Vermont, villages are named communities located within the boundaries of a legally established town, unlike cities, which are outside of any town area.[2] Villages may be incorporated or unincorporated.
West Virginia
In West Virginia, towns and villages are Class IV municipalities, i.e., having 2,000 or fewer inhabitants.[2]
In Wisconsin, cities and villages are both outside the area of any town. Cities and villages differ in terms of the population and population density required for incorporation.[2]
Related Research Articles
A town is a type of a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
In the United States, a county or county equivalent is an administrative or political subdivision of a U.S. state or other territories of the United States which consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs, respectively. The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between the states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. Certain municipalities are in multiple counties; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five counties, referred to at the city government level as boroughs. Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties, or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities. Conversely, those counties in Connecticut, Rhode Island, eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties, and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions.
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada. Most other countries have very few or no unincorporated areas.
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, as well as Wisconsin to refer to the equivalent of the civil township in these states; Minnesota uses "town" officially but often uses it and "township" interchangeably. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary in each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both, the boundaries often coincide and may completely geographically subdivide a county. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies civil townships as minor civil divisions. Currently, there are 20 states with civil townships.
A township in some states of the United States is a small geographic area.
Most U.S. states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those states. Civil townships or towns are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest.
The town is the basic unit of local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack a direct counterpart to the New England town. New England towns overlay the entire area of a state, similar to civil townships in other states where they exist, but they are fully functioning municipal corporations, possessing powers similar to cities and counties in other states. New Jersey's system of equally powerful townships, boroughs, towns, and cities is the system which is most similar to that of New England. New England towns are often governed by a town meeting, an assembly of eligible town residents. The great majority of municipal corporations in New England are based on the town model; there, statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place are uncommon, though elsewhere in the U.S. they are prevalent. County government in New England states is typically weak at best, and in some states nonexistent. Connecticut, for example, has no county governments, nor does Rhode Island. Both of those states retain counties only as geographic subdivisions with no governmental authority, while Massachusetts has abolished eight of fourteen county governments so far. Counties serve mostly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems and some other state services in the southern New England states, while providing varying services in the more sparsely populated three northern New England states.
The administrative divisions of Wisconsin include counties, cities, villages and towns. In Wisconsin, all of these are units of general-purpose local government. There are also a number of special-purpose districts formed to handle regional concerns, such as school districts.
The United States Census Bureau defines a place as a concentration of population which has a name, is locally recognized, and is not part of any other place. A place typically has a residential nucleus and a closely spaced street pattern, and it frequently includes commercial property and other urban land uses. A place may be an incorporated place or it may be a census-designated place (CDP). Incorporated places are defined by the laws of the states in which they are contained. The Census Bureau delineates CDPs. A small settlement in the open countryside or the densely settled fringe of a large city may not be a place as defined by the Census Bureau. As of the census, 26% of the people in the United States lived outside of places.
Local government in New Jersey is composed of counties and municipalities. Local jurisdictions in New Jersey differ from those in some other states because every square foot of the state is part of exactly one municipality; each of the 564 municipalities is in exactly one county; and each of the 21 counties has more than one municipality. New Jersey has no independent cities, or consolidated city-counties.
A Vermont municipality is a particular type of New England municipality. It is the basic unit of local government.
Local government in Pennsylvania is government below the state level in Pennsylvania. There are six types of local governments listed in the Pennsylvania Constitution: county, township, borough, town, city, and school district. All of Pennsylvania is included in one of the state's 67 counties, which are in total subdivided into 2,560 municipalities. There are currently no independent cities or unincorporated territories within Pennsylvania. There is only one incorporated town in Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg.
The administrative divisions of Ohio are counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and school districts.
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