Michigan's Resident Population

1. There are a number of groups that are interested in Michigan’s resident population. Within government the statistic is of interest because it determines the number of representatives Michigan receives in Congress, the tax revenue for the state, and the amount of services that must be provided (education, welfare, healthcare, etc). The population count also provides a base number for the government and other groups to use in determining other important statistics. For instance, the overall population must be known before the percent unemployed or per capita income can be determined.

The population of Michigan is also of interest to businesses and interest groups. Knowing how many people live in the Michigan can determine the quantity of advertising companies decide to place in the state, in addition to the final allocation of products or services to the area. For example, a housing development company will be much more inclined to build in Michigan if the population is growing rather than shrinking.


2. The official count of Michigan’s population is determined by the U.S. Census Bureau every ten years in compliance with the Constitution. In the interim, the Census Bureau makes estimates of the population size. According to their website, “Existing data series such as births, deaths, and domestic and international immigration, are used to update the decennial census base counts.”


3. The most recent estimate puts the Michigan resident population at 10,003,422. This represents a 0.7% increase since the last hard count in 2000, which put the Michigan population at 9,938,492. The United States, by comparison, was estimated to have a population of 304,059,724 in 2008 and a much faster rate of growth. According to the Census Bureau, U.S. had a population of 281,424,602 in 2000. This represents an 8% population increase between 2000 and 2008.

U.S. Census Bureau. 23 February 2010. “Michigan Quickfacts.” http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26000.html.