Township (United States) A township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles (15.6 km² to 140.4 km²), with 36 square miles (93 km²) being the norm. The term is used in three ways. A survey township is simply a geographic reference used to define property location for deeds and grants as surveyed and platted by the General Land Office (GLO).