Detroit Population Continues Decline, Metro Area Still Strong

METRO DETROIT, MI — The mass exodus from Detroit that plagued the city throughout the 1990s and early 2000s has stopped, but residents are still trickling out of the Motor City. According to U.S Census figures released Thursday, Detroit’s population fell 0.5 percent as of July 1, 2016 to 672,795.

The drop placed Detroit at No. 23 nationally, it’s lowest ranking since before the Civil War. Across metropolitan Detroit, the news is better, however. It still ranks 14th among the nation’s metropolitan areas, with its population of 4.3 million in the six counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair and Lapeer, the Detroit News reported.

Michigan as a whole state saw a small population increase of 0.1 percent, or 10,585 people, during the period of July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016. Clinton Township in Macomb County surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time this year, the Detroit Free Press reported. The community had 100,392 residents in 2016, a gain of 541 or 0.5%.

“It is a great community to have a home,” Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon told the newspaper. He said local hospitals, retail, parks and recreation and a strong school system have helped pull residents in.

Meanwhile, Detroit Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley said despite the census estimates Mayor Mike Duggan is optimistic about the city’s future. "We are pleased in the direction that we are heading. ... The data are a year behind," Wiley told the Free Press. She cited the number of building permits, home prices and 3,000 more occupied residences reported by DTE Energy in the city in March versus than the same time in 2016.

Still, the numbers are the numbers demographer Kurt Metzger said. "Only one city out of the top 25 has lost population since 2010 and that is Detroit," he told the newspaper.

In Oakland County, the top three communities for population growth were Lyon Township, which grew 5.2 percent, Sylvan Lake at 2.3 percent and Oakland Township at 1.7 percent. Population in other Oakland County communities all grew at less than 1 percent:

• Novi - up 0.9 percent (59,211)
• Birmingham - up 0.8 percent (21,007)
• Troy - up 0.5 percent (83,641)
• Rochester City - up 0.3 percent (13,017)
• Royal Oak - up 0.1 percent (59,006)
• Rochester Hills - up 0.1 percent (73,422)

In Macomb County, Washington Township grew the fastest at 1.8 percent. Macomb and Shelby townships followed with growth at 1.1 percent. St. Clair Shores fell 0.2 percent to a population of 59,775.

Only four communities saw growth in Wayne County, the Free Press reported: the city of Plymouth, which was up 2 percent (9,077), and Brownstown, Canton and Huron townships, which grew at rates of 0.8 percent, 0.5 percent (90,248) and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Plymouth Township fell by 0.2 percent with a population of 26,875. Dearborn also dropped by 0.6 percent (94,444).

Nationwide, the Census Bureau found that cities in the South grew at a faster rate than any other region in the country, the Free Press reported.

"Since the 2010 Census, the population in large southern cities grew by an average of 9.4%. In comparison, cities in the West grew 7.3%, while cities in the Northeast and Midwest had much lower growth rates at 1.8% and 3% respectively," Amel Toukabri, a demographer in the Census Bureau's population division, told the newspaper.

Photo by Tim Boyle / Staff / Getty Images News / Getty Images