Lansing lost population again, but the news may be better than you think

LANSING — New data on 2022 population rates released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows Lansing, like most of Michigan, lost residents again, although the Capital City was mostly spared from the declines in many of Michigan's cities.

The data, released Monday, showed Lansing lost 17 residents since July 1, 2020, to a population level of 112,537. That's relatively positive news as only Pontiac, Novi and Troy, among large cities in Michigan, gained population in the two-year span.

The Census Bureau compiled and released the data for cities with populations at or above 50,000 people.

Most other large localities in Michigan weren't so lucky. Detroit has lost 16,966 people since 2020, for a population of 620,376, although Mayor Mike Duggan took to social media to call the federal agency responsible for counting the population a "national clown show." Detroit sued the Census Bureau in 2022, accusing the agency of undercounting Detroit's population, which has fallen from a 2020 level of more than 639,000 residents. Detroit is now the 29th largest city in the U.S.

More: Counties with large universities see population rebound, including 1 in Michigan

Grand Rapids fared somewhat better, with a loss of 1,790 people, dropping the second-largest city in Michigan's population to 196,908.

Ann Arbor has lost 3,750 residents since 2020 as its population fell to 119,875.

Lyke Thompson, a Wayne State University professor and director of the university's Center for Urban Studies, noted places with major universities, such as the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University and Michigan State University, retained more residents.

"You're seeing university cities get more people and the coastal area where people have lake houses, you'll see higher trends there," Thompson said. "Traverse City, places on the Lake Michigan side and the Lake Huron side are getting more people."

Where does Lansing rank now in the state?

Lansing remains the sixth-largest city in Michigan, behind Ann Arbor and ahead of Dearborn.

Here are the top 10 cities in Michigan, in descending order, all of which lost population: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren (137,107), Sterling Heights (132,567), Ann Arbor, Lansing, Dearborn (107,710), Livonia (93,779), Troy (87,201), Westland (84,037) and Farmington Hills (82,737).

Flint, with a population in 2022 of 79,854, is the 11th largest city in Michigan.

From 2010 to 2020, Lansing lost about 1% of its population, or about 1,653 people. Schor, like Duggan, claimed the city was undercounted in the 2020 count because the Census Bureau had fewer enumerators canvassing. Still, he's happy Lansing didn't lose as many people as other cities.

"We know that there are people coming to Lansing," Schor said. "We're building housing like crazy, and it's all being taken up. So, people are they're going somewhere, right?"

Michigan continues losing people

Michigan is still in trouble in keeping people in the state as politicians and demographers try to make the Great Lakes State more attractive to people.

Since July 1, 2020, Michigan has lost 35,464 residents. Only five other states and territories ranked worse in population loss in that time frame:

• California, which lost 472,311 residents.

• New York State, which lost 431,145 residents.

• Illinois, which lost 204,548 residents.

• Louisiana, which lost 61,423 residents.

• Puerto Rico, which lost 59,768 residents.

Nationally, however, the country gained more than 1.7 million residents.

The population loss is costing Michigan voices in Congress.

"Apportionment (the process of dividing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the House of Representatives among the 50 states) is tied to each decennial census, so the 2030 Census will be the next opportunity to determine how many house seats Michigan will have," Jaclyn Butler, the state demographer, said in an email. "Michigan has lost one member of its congressional delegation in each census from 1980-2020, except 1990 when it lost two."

Thompson said Michigan's losses could reverse themselves quickly.

"The decreases are so small that they could easily change as COVID goes away and more people move back to the state from hotter areas getting hotter," he said. "Within the state, people are moving away from metropolitan areas to suburbs for a slower lifestyle and to outstate counties."

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Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Why Lansing's population loss may be good news for the region