Michigan’s Fastest Shrinking City
Can you guess Michigan's fastest shrinking city? It's not Detroit or Flint.
Why is everyone leaving Dearborn, Michigan? Dearborn is best known for being the home of Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company American Headquarters. It was once one of the largest cities in Michigan with lots of industry and a large Muslim population. However, Dearborn has seen a steady decline in population, including the Muslim residents. Discover.alot.com recently named Dearborn as the fastest shrinking city in Michigan,
According to Census Bureau data, Michigan's population declined annually between 2005 and 2010, only to start growing once more in 2011. The greatest percentage decline in 2021, 1.1%, or almost 1300 persons.
ArabAmericanNews.com spoke to 50-year-old former Dearborn resident on why he left the city 5 years ago,
He said people prefer to move out because of the schools and larger homes found outside Dearborn. He added that factories definitely play a role since they pollute the air in residential neighborhoods.
Grand Rapids and Detroit are also seeing a population drain. Some residents are moving to more affordable areas of Michigan while others are moving out of state. Michigan's lost an estimated 43,000 people of its 10.07 million residents over the last two year according to the U.S. Census. Oddly enough, only 14,000 of those people moved out of state. The rest of the population loss reflects deaths outnumbering births according to MoveBuddha.com.
What about Southwest Michigan?
Kalamazoo has only lost about 400 residents from 2020 to 2021. However, Kalamazoo's population in 1990 was 80,290 and was estimated to be 73,257 in 2021. Portage and Battle Creek also saw slight population drops from 2020 to 2021.