Sometimes it's good when things shrink, right? I wouldn't mind if my bills shrank or my waistline. But what happens when populations shrink? It's referred to as a death spiral.
I feel like that term is a little extreme, but it is really hard to come back from losing population. Michigan's population is indeed shrinking, and the timing really couldn't be any worse. So, what to do? This is The Daily J.
I'm Zach Clark. Does size matter? Don't kid yourself. Of course it does.
And by size, I mean population size. It's a big deal how populous your state is. It is a determining factor in things like the representation you get in Congress or how much tax revenue is paid out by the federal government. The latest numbers show that Michigan indeed shrank, at least in 2021.
Most recent census estimates, which basically look at where population is in 2021. We regularly look at these 10-year estimates because they give us a better view of what's happening in the long term, but these one-year estimates are important, too. And the most recent one-year estimate, we've lost about 26,000 people in the state of Michigan, which is not great. You want your population to be continually growing because you want to improve on your tax base.
You want to have people coming in to make new businesses. A growing population is considered to be a really healthy one by a demography expert. Ours is shrinking. There's no one reason that applies across the board, but what experts say is this is probably a sign that people are finding jobs in maybe states that are considered more desirable, like maybe Texas or California or New York, or we've even seen states like Montana are growing a lot lately.
It's a sign that people are finding what they want in other places and it's taking them away from Michigan. That right there, that's the voice of Haley Harding. She's a data reporter for the Detroit News and has a fantastic breakdown of Michigan's population movements. You can check it out at DetroitNews.com.
This isn't good news no matter how you slice it, but at least as we look back at 2020 census numbers, it gets even worse. That is actually, I think, one of the most significant things that the average person will think about when they look at what Michigan's changing population means. Because even though we grew in the 2020 census, we actually jumped to about 10 million people for the first time in a little while during the 2020 census, we were not growing fast enough to keep up with these Montanans, with these other states that have had just tremendous growth. So not only are we now losing population in the 2021 census, which are the most recent ones that have come out, we are not growing as fast as these other states.
And if we continue to not grow as fast or do even decline, it is likely we're going to keep losing these congressional states. We're going to keep losing our representation. And as a result, Michigan is going to be a less powerful state in our national political sphere. So what do local leaders make of this?
Quentin Messer is the CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. That's a public-private partnership created to help job creation statewide. Quentin's group, they're basically salespeople from Michigan, tasked with helping make the state a destination. And yes, he is concerned, but he also says there are positives.
Look, you're always concerned whenever you have population law, but I think you have to contextualize it. I think there were some very strong headwinds that prevailed in 2021. One, the tragedy of COVID-19. We lost too many Michiganders, but due to the efforts of the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration through Michiganders getting vaccinated, loosely distancing, being saved sacrifices by small Indian-sized businesses and large businesses across the state, we've saved lives, but we lost too many.
Those are a flashpoint in time. I think it's critical that people have perspective. That is a flashpoint in time. And then over the previous decade, from 2010 to 2020, Michigan grew by 2%.
We obviously believe that we have reason to grow more. Let's not lose perspective that over the previous decade, Michigan grew. Michigan is a state that relies on migrants to bolster the population. Which is not that unusual when you consider universities and colleges here, the National Board with Canada, and the strength of the auto industry.
But Quentin from the NEDC says national policy is making it tough for the state to attract immigrants. Michigan is a state that's always been blessed with tremendous immigration. Until we have a comprehensive federal immigration policy, we are going to be disproportionately adversely affected. Because Michigan is an international state.
People come to attend school at our tremendous two- and four-year institutions, particularly our public and private four-year institutions. They come to work at some of the world's best companies. And with difficulty getting visas and other factors that have historically been in place for Michigan to welcome the world, those are going to be headwinds. In a reporting, Haley notes that 36 counties across the state lost population, including Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne.
In fact, losing over 1% of population, Wayne County was Michigan's biggest loser in 2021. Haley, in agreement with Quentin, points out that it's not just about migrants in other countries. Michigan also has to win the battle of people moving between states. Michigan for a long time has been relying on a significant immigrant population, both immigrant from other countries and from other states, to stay afloat.
And in the grand scheme of things, when we're looking at the exchange between the states, we're generally looking for people to the Montanans and the Texans. If we want to reverse that, we need more than just MEDC. But like, MEDC cannot fix the population problem alone. Michigan needs to have an active, concerted effort to really, first of all, acknowledge it as a problem, which is something I don't think I've seen many people do, and really work together to address it.
And there does need to be some urgency here. This is happening in real time. Experts tell Haley that if Michigan cannot turn the population type, it could become a bigger problem, and that could result in future loss of tax revenue and continued loss in representation in Washington, D.C. That is the thing that we see.
Sometimes it's referred to as a death spiral. I feel like that term is a little extreme in a particular instance, but it is really hard to come back from losing population. It's a really concerted effort. I spoke to people from the MEDC, and they say, look, we're doing what we can.
Michigan's a great place for technology, and we're revamping the auto industry, and it's not just autos. You can do FinTech here, too. And what else needs to be done? What more needs to be done?
The population experts, what they are telling me, we need to have a combined effort from leaders at all types of institutions. That means in the government, that means at universities, that means maybe in the medical field or the tech field or a variety of different fields. They need to work together to develop a plan on how do we draw more people to Michigan. Earlier, Haley said the MEDC can't do it on their own, and she's right.
That's not an insult. The MEDC is doing what they can, but Haley says this is an issue that needs to be addressed from many levels. This is what experts are telling me time and time again is we need leaders from a variety of institutions to get together and say, A, acknowledge this is a problem, and B, we are going to work collectively to do something about it. From the conversations I've had with a variety of different experts on this, this is not going to change unless we do something.
And in talking to regular people who moved here maybe for a job or whatever, they're like, oh yeah, I love Michigan. Michigan's great. I think it's badly marketed, or I don't think it's marketed appropriately to people who might consider living here. Michigan is a cyber state.
There's something for everyone in Michigan is what I've learned in my reporting and just in my being a Michigan resident myself, and I think that's something that experts must be really promoted. Because there's no one specific issue, it makes the fix difficult. It's got to be multifaceted. But for Quentin and the MEDC, a big part of it is, according to youth, college students in the future after all.
How do we come alongside colleges and universities, their Office of Career Services, their Alumni Affairs Office? How do we come alongside and amplify not only the great messages from the University of Michigan or Michigan State or Western or Kettering or Allian or all the great colleges and universities, but how do we amplify the message of Michigan as a place? One of the things is we want to have closer relationships with a career service officer and let young people know that you don't have to work in the auto industry or be an engineer to have great careers here in Michigan. You can work in FinTech or insurance tech, or you can work in the life sciences.
There's so many cool and wonderful companies of all sizes from both peninsulas. You sort of get fixated on, oh, if I want to be in financial services, I've got to be in New York. If I want to be in Peck, I've got to be in Silicon Valley. Yeah, no, that's not true.
But if you don't know, if we as people who live a little bit longer don't put it in these young people's peripheral visions that everything that you aspire to, you can have in Michigan, shame on us. While the population loss was a tough hit for Michigan in 2021, the lack of growth that preceded it was foreshadowing. At least it seems to be the case. So now that Michigan governmental leaders know the issue exists, the question becomes, what are they going to do about it?
Thank you so much to both Haley Harding and Quentin Messer for chatting with me today. This podcast would not be possible without the work of our digital team. Check out WWJNewsRadio.com for local news, on demand 24-7, including the latest on Michigan's population drop. Do you have questions, comments, or concerns about The Daily J?
We want to hear from you. Drop us an email at DailyJ at Odyssey.com. That's DailyJ at A-U-D-A-C-Y dot com. Our theme music is written and produced by Ozone Music and Sound in Southfield.
I'm Zach Clark and this is The Daily J. Thanks for listening.