Michigan’s population has hovered around the 10 million mark for the past 20+ years, but the state’s latest report outlines projections of a population roller coaster which stops at the bottom.
Michigan will have more than 230,000 more people in the next decade, and then decline by 128,000 from 2034 to 2050. Overall, the state’s population is expected to drop by about 700,000 in 26 years.
Jaclyn Butler, demographer at the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics and author of the report, said in addition to people migrating out of the state and lower fertility rates, increasing death rates are contributing to the decline.
“In Michigan, as we have this very large birth cohort, the ‘baby boomers’ birth cohort,” Butler explained. “The baby boom was pronounced in Michigan — even compared to the nation, which also experienced a baby boom — moving into, you know, older age years, high mortality years.”
The report shows there are now more Michigan residents age 55 and older than residents under 25.
Butler added COVID-19 deaths played a role in Michigan’s natural population decrease, but even though 2020 and 2021 saw the highest annual increases in deaths since the Spanish flu in 1918, she emphasized the pandemic cannot solely be blamed for the decline.
“Michigan was already trending closer toward natural decrease,” Butler noted. “That rate of natural increase — where you have more births than deaths — was already slowing, even prior to the pandemic.”
The report found death rates in Michigan are projected to increase by over 35% through the year 2047.
Can this population decline be reversed? Butler believes it is possible.
“You know, there is a window of time,” Butler stressed. “Within the next two years or the next decade where, particularly if total net migration is high enough, there might be enough total net migration to offset that natural decrease.”
Butler also warned if the trend is not reversed, within the next decade it will become a greater challenge for Michigan to maintain the annual level of migration the state needs for its workforce.
4 comments
Another puff piece calling for more miraculous “migration” to keep civilization going, when it’s obvious that the “migrants” cannot maintain a civilization just by looking at the countries they come from.
Leftist idiocy like this is the reason people are fleeing Michigan, since Whitmer has dictated that Michigan must overtake Illinois as the Commiefornia of the Midwest. Importing more useless drains on the government coffers is not going to make things any better.
Michigan is suppose to be one of the most desirable locations in the future do to its water resource and milder weather . I seriously question this prediction.
She needs to take care of the people already here, she has wasted so much on illegals and LGBTQ and has completely forgotten life long residents, the SOS and her need to go we need someone who wants to help not hurt us and their not it, I’ve written 2 letters to Secretary of State and she’s never shown the decency to reply, because I’m not one of the rich
Nice name Chuck! I’m in total agreement with you.