Detroit Population Continues to Decline as City Sees Lowest Numbers Since 1850
Over the past years, Detroit has seen a significant decline in its population and recently, the city recorded its lowest figures since 1850 and it has also been removed from the list of the United States' Top 20 most populous cities.
According to Detroit News, estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday reveal that last summer, the Michigan city's population was at 677,116, which means the town has lost 3,017 residents from the previous year.
Back in 1940, Detroit became the fourth largest city, after New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, but it has now been pushed to 21st place, and the most recent figures have been surpassed by that of Seattle, El Paso, and Denver.
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Experts believe that one of the factors affecting the slide of Detroit's population is due to the decrease of programs focusing on state and national politics. Locals have been eyeing education, employment opportunities, and improving the overall quality of life, and have somehow neglected rankings.
Kevin Boyle, a history professor at Northwestern University who spent most of his life in Detroit, said, "A lot of Detroiters really think of themselves as being in one of the country's biggest cities, and that's not true anymore. It's just a fundamentally different place than it was a half century ago."
In a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press, Mayor Mike Duggan slammed the recent reports and insisted that the most recent numbers have not been included in the latest report released. He noted that people have not been moving out compared to the recorded number of people leaving the city in the past. He further added that residents are opting to stay in Detroit.
"I'm very confident that the city of Detroit is growing," adding that the accurate percentages should finally be revealed in the next report. Duggan is sure that one of his term's goals, which is to reverse the course of Detroit's population decline, will finally be achieved before he steps down.
Despite the bad news, there is hope for the slowly declining city as the figures also suggest that Detroit has seen the smallest drop in decades. In the early 2000s, the town saw an average drop of about 24,000, meaning the latest plunge is far lower than previous records.
