Michigan stands alone with fewer residents, census results show

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The U.S. Census Bureau’s recent release of data collected for 2010 shows Michigan was the only state to have a decline in population.

Michigan’s population dipped to 9,883,640 in 2010 from 9,938,444 in 2000, a 0.6 percent decrease, according to Census results.

A decreasing population can have numerous negative effects on a state.

“There are laws in place that predicate funding for various units of government based on population,” said Bill Ballenger, former Griffin Endowed Chair and editor of Inside Michigan Politics.

If the formula shows communities that had been deserving of dollars in the past do not have as many people now, the government will cut funding based solely on the fact that they have lost population, he said.

Some of the possible areas of decreased funding are Medicaid, education, transportation and environmental money, said Griffin Endowed Chair Maxine Berman.

“We’re going to lose money at the state and local government level,” Ballenger said.

That is exactly what Mount Pleasant Planning Director Jeff Gray hoped to avoid.

In 2000, the city’s population exceeded 25,000 people for the first time ever. As a result, Mount Pleasant saw a significant increase in money distributed, Gray said.

“I don’t know if that would happen again, but we want to get everyone counted because numbers mean so much for funding of things like the streets and state revenue sharing which goes into the general fund,” he said.

Michigan was one of 10 states to lose a Congressional seat this decade, but Berman says it is more about a state’s population increase than decrease.

“We can gain a million but if Texas gains ten million obviously they get the numbers and seats,” she said. “It’s really a matter of gain in other states.”

Michigan’s population decline can partially be attributed to the shrinking auto industry, Berman said.

In the past 15 years, Michigan went from having 75 percent of the American auto industry’s total market to 50 percent.

“In the last decade, Michigan has lost over 800,000 manufacturing jobs,” Ballenger said. “That’s a huge number.”

A more positive high number was the amount of participation for the 2010 census.

With a response rate of 80 percent for the 2010 census compared to 66 percent in 2000, Gray is hopeful for good news when local census numbers are released in February or March.

“I’m confident in the response rate that we got everyone counted,” he said. “It just comes down to what that count is.”