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West Bloomfield Township (commonly shortened to West Bloomfield) is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, West Bloomfield is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 65,888.

Communities

  • Westacres is an unincorporated community in the township at Keith and Commerce Roads ( Elevation: .).
  • Lakeside Park is a placeholder name for a community in the northern part of the township at the eastern terminus of Greer road along Cass Lake. It is conterminous with the neighborhood of Zox. In 2025 the state of Michigan designated the area a village. A five member charter commission was elected on November 4th 2025, however it has not yet drafted nor adopted a charter and thus the village has no municipal corporation.

Geography

West Bloomfield is sometimes referred to by its residents as the "lake township of Oakland County", due to it being heavily dotted with small and medium-sized lakes. Cass Lake, the largest lake in the county, is in part of West Bloomfield, and Pine Lake, which has a private country club on its shore, is only a few miles away from Cass and lies completely within West Bloomfield. In addition, directly west of Pine Lake is Orchard Lake, which also has a private country club on its shore. Orchard Lake is surrounded by the city of Orchard Lake Village. Several smaller lakes are scattered around these larger ones.

Orchard Lake Road runs north–south through the middle of the township and is the main artery of West Bloomfield's economy along with West Maple Road (15 Mile Rd.), flanked on each side by long strip malls and shopping complexes. There are many high-end boutique stores and expensive restaurants to visit. Most of the township's population growth has occurred since the 1960s, as many residents moved there from the inner ring Detroit suburbs. West Bloomfield is located in south-central Oakland County about to the northwest from the Detroit city limits and has borders with Bloomfield Township to its east, Farmington Hills to its south, Commerce Township to its west, and four communities to its north: Waterford Township, Orchard Lake Village, Keego Harbor, and Sylvan Lake. The communities of West Bloomfield, Orchard Lake Village, Keego Harbor, and Sylvan Lake make up what is known as Greater West Bloomfield.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 12.49%, is water.

Government

Federal, state, and county legislators

{| class="wikitable"

|+United States House of Representatives

!District

!Representative

!Party

!Since

|-

|11th

|Haley Stevens

| |Democratic

|2019

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Michigan Senate

!District

!Senator

!Party

!Since

|-

|13th

|Rosemary Bayer

| |Democratic

|2023

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Michigan House of Representatives

!District

!Representative

!Party

!Since

|-

|20th

|Noah Arbit

| |Democratic

|2023

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Oakland County Board of Commissioners

!District

!Commissioner

!Party

!Since

|-

|10

|Kirsten Nelson

| |Democratic

|2019

|-

|11

|Marcia Gershenson

| |Democratic

|2005

|}

Education

thumb|left|[[West Bloomfield High School]]

West Bloomfield Township is serviced by seven school districts, more than any other municipality in Oakland County. The school districts that serve the township are the West Bloomfield School District, Waterford School District, Farmington Public Schools, Birmingham City School District, Pontiac School District, Walled Lake School District, and the Bloomfield Hills School District.

West Bloomfield High School and the Frankel Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit are in West Bloomfield proper, and St. Mary's Preparatory is in Orchard Lake Village.

Catholic schools are under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. St. William Catholic Church, which includes portions of West Bloomfield in its service area, operates St. William Catholic School, a K–8 school in Walled Lake.

The West Bloomfield Township Public Library serves West Bloomfield. In 1999 this library and the Awaji City Library in Awaji, Hyogo, Japan were paired as sister institutions.

Religion

West Bloomfield is home to the largest Jewish population in Michigan. Catholic Churches are under the Archdiocese of Detroit. Prince of Peace Church is in West Bloomfield. St. William Church in Walled Lake includes portions of West Bloomfield in its service area.

As of the census Males had a median income of $74,557 versus $45,339 for females. The per capita income for the township was $44,885. About 1.6% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 and over.

Ethnic groups

West Bloomfield has a large Jewish population. It is home to the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit and the Frankel Jewish Academy, a private Jewish community high school.

thumb|Photo of the Chaldean Cultural Center taken on February 28th, 2025

West Bloomfield also has a large Chaldo-Assyrian population. In 2004 the Chaldean Cultural Center, the largest of its kind in the United States, was established in the township.

As of April 2013, West Bloomfield had the third largest Japanese national population in the state of Michigan, at 1,047.

Notable people

  • Rucka Rucka Ali, rapper, radio personality, singer, comedian, and satirist most noted for his song parodies on YouTube
  • Justin Bartha, actor, most notable for The Hangover Trilogy and the National Treasure series
  • Jack Berry, sports journalist for The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press
  • Meryl Davis, Olympic ice dancer who won the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia
  • Pamela Eldred, Miss America 1970
  • Dan Gheesling, winner of Big Brother 10 and runner-up of Big Brother 14
  • Joe Ginsberg, former baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers
  • Adam Grant, psychologist
  • Brandon T. Jackson, actor, appears in Tropic Thunder, and Percy Jackson
  • Kyle Mack, Olympic snowboarder, who won silver medal in Men's Big Air at Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics
  • Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
  • Ben Ofeimu, soccer player
  • Adetokunbo Ogundeji, outside linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons
  • Jesse Palter, modern jazz singer
  • Karen Clark Sheard, gospel singer
  • Bruce Ableson, social media pioneer
  • Donovan Edwards, University of Michigan running back
  • Jack Kevorkian, Assisted Suicide advocate, lived in West Bloomfield Township from 1994 until his conviction in 1999 in a home owned by his lawyer.

See also

  • 1976 West Bloomfield Tornado
  • Temple Israel synagogue attack

References

  • Charter Township of West Bloomfield
  • West Bloomfield Township Public Library
  • West Bloomfield Civic Center TV