Dayton Township is a civil township of Tuscola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,869 at the 2000 census.
There are no incorporated municipalities in the township. The unincorporated community of East Dayton is located on the boundary between Dayton Township and the adjacent Wells Township at . There is also some settlement around Shay Lake.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 36.2 square miles (93.6 km²), of which, 35.8 square miles (92.7 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²) of it (0.94%) is water.
There were 679 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.0% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.8% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the township the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $42,000, and the median income for a family was $46,696. Males had a median income of $39,519 versus $21,950 for females. The per capita income for the township was $18,890. About 6.9% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.