Michigan Sub-County Population Estimates: 2010-2012

Unlike the subcounty estimates released in 2012, which were based on a simplified methodology, the new estimates are based on the methodology used in the previous decade.  Nevertheless, users of these estimates should note that they still suggest highly uniform growth rates among most communities in any given county.

In the context of an estimation methodology based on housing units, the changes in a community's population can be reflected in three ways: changes in housing stock, changes in occupancy rates, and changes in household size.  Based on research conducted in prior decades, the Census Bureau's methodology uses only changes in housing stock.  This worked fairly well in the last decade because population growth was highly correlated with housing growth for most communities. 

In more recent years, however, growth in housing stock has been very low.  Changes in population, to the extent that they are occurring at the local level, are probably being reflected more by changes in occupancy rates and household size and less by changes in housing stock.  Changes in those variables are not reflected in the methodology, so the estimates may be missing most of the changes that are taking place.

Thus, the population estimates in tables 1 through 3 are of limited value for identifying local patterns of change within counties. 

Michigan Data 

Table 1:
Estimated Population of Cities, Villages, and Townships or Remainders of Townships: 2010-2012 (xls) 
(cities, villages, and townships sorted by county; cities that cross county lines and villages that cross township lines are broken into separate parts, and population for townships containing villages is reported separately or the villages and for the remainder of the township)

Table 2:
Estimated Population of Incorporated Places: 2010-2012 (xls) 
(cities and villages, sorted alphabetically)

Table 3:
Estimated Population of Minor Civil Divisions by County: 2010-2012 (xls) 
(cities and townships, sorted by county; cities that cross county lines are broken into separate parts)

Methodology 

Link to methodology description for subcounty population estimates.

Population Estimates for Other States 

Link to subcounty estimates for other states.

Updated 5/23/2013