According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 92.1 square miles, of which, 91.8 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it is water. The township contains the following communities: Buttermilk Falls, Darlington, Hillsview, Laughlintown, Longbridge, McCance, Oak Grove, Shirley, Speedwell, Rector, Waterford, and Wilpen.
Surrounding and inner neighborhoods
Ligonier Township has six borders including the townships of Fairfield to the northeast, Jenner to the southeast, Lincoln in the southeastern corner, Cook to the southwest, Unity to the lower northwest, and Derry to the upper northwest. Situated completely inside the township are the boroughs of Ligonier and Laurel Mountain.
In 2019 the Ligonier Township police and the Ligonier Borough police both combined their respective police departments to form the Ligonier Valley Police Department. The LVPD is currently staffed by an Chief of Police, Assistant Chief, Sergeant and 10 patrol Officer’s. The LVPD also employs a K-9 officer that is partnered with the Sergeant and also employs a school resource officer to patrol the three schools within Ligonier. The Patrol officers are responsible for patrolling the Ligonier Valley which includes the villages of Waterford, Darlington, Wilpen and Laughlintown and the Borough of Ligonier. The police department suffered tragedy in May 2015 when K-9 handler LT. Eric Eslary was killed in the line of duty in a motor vehicle accident. His K-9 Blek was also injured and made a full recovery from the accident. K-9 Blek died of natural causes in 2018. The Ligonier Township Municipal Authority provides water and sewage service to township residents. Fire protection services are provided by a 100% totally volunteer force, from three of the township’s villages. The Ligonier Township Volunteer Fire Department #1. The Wilpen Volunteer Fire Department of Ligonier Township and The Darlington Volunteer Fire Department .
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,973 people, 2,914 households, and 2,089 families residing in the township. The population density was 75.9 people per square mile. There were 3,556 housing units at an average density of 38.7/sq mi. The racial makeup of the township was 99.21% White, 0.13% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.27% of the population. There were 2,914 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.0% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82. In the township the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $36,817, and the median income for a family was $46,715. Males had a median income of $35,969 versus $23,975 for females. The per capita income for the township was $25,049. About 5.8% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
