Four out of five of mid-Michigan’s largest cities are reporting less residents in 2023 than in April 2020.

“The U.S. population has increased about 10% to nearly 335 million while the Michigan population dropped about 40,000 to 10.037 million from 2020 through 2023,” WJRT reports, citing data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.

In Flint, the population dropped by nearly 200 residents to 79,661 in July 2023, continuing a decline from 81,269 documented in the 2020 census. In Saginaw, the loss was nearly 300 residents in 2023 to 43,185, or about 1,025 less than census officials estimated in 2020.

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Bay City lost nearly 120 residents last year, and 525 residents since 2020, with a population of 32,082 in 2023, while Burton shed 70 residents last year, and 330 residents since 2020, for a population of 29,376 in July 2023. Midland was the only Mid-Michigan city with a positive trend, jumping 90 residents in 2023, and 130 residents since 2020, for a July 2023 population estimate of 42,525, WJRT reports.

It’s a similar trend statewide, with only 11 cities with populations of more than 20,000 in 2020 gaining residents last year, while 45 cities lost residents, according to the census data.

The estimates show the fastest growing city in Michigan with a population of more than 20,000 in 2020 was Auburn Hills, which gained 1,229 residents since 2020, a roughly 5% increase. In the broader nationwide context, Auburn Hills ranked 295^th for growth by percentage change.

Other growing Michigan cities included Marquette, East Lansing, Wyoming, Portage, Walker, Holland, Pontiac, Novi, and Troy.

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The state’s biggest losers included Ypsilanti, which lost 1,262 residents or 6.1%, for a 2023 population of 19,393, followed by Lincoln Park, which lost 1,600 residents or 4%, for a 2023 population of 38,646. Others that lost more than 3% since 2020 included Hamtramck, Mount Pleasant, Garden City, Allen Park, Inkster, Westland, Southgate, Taylor, Livonia, Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Wyandotte.

Detroit, the state’s largest city, celebrated an increase of 1,852 residents from 2022 to 2023, though its July 2023 population of 633,218 remains 6,257 residents below the bureau’s April 2020 estimate.

The Thursday numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau are the latest to document Michigan’s population struggles since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in 2019.

In March, 24/7 Wall Street leveraged the bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey for 43 metropolitan statistical areas with at least a 3% population decline between 2017 and 2022 to dub Kalamazoo “the fastest shrinking city in the nation.”

That report followed a 47^th Annual National Movers Study conducted by United Van Lines that tracked state-to-state migration patterns. That study showed Michigan ranked fifth for top outbound states for 2023, behind only New Jersey, Illinois, North Dakota, and New York.

Those studies confirmed findings from Whitmer’s own Growing Michigan Together Council released late last year that found Michigan is “lagging in median income, educational outcomes and attainment and have fallen behind faster-growing peer states in key measures of infrastructure, community well-being, and job opportunities.

“We are losing more young residents than we’re attracting, and our population is aging faster than those of our neighbors,” the report read.

“We are continuing to see the trend that Americans are moving to more affordable, lower-density areas across the country, with many heading to Southern states,” United Van Lines Vice President of Corporate Communications Eily Cummings said of the movers study. “Movers are also becoming more strategic with their planning, as relocation continues to be driven by factors such as the price of housing, regional climates, urban planning and job growth.”