Tables

Table 1: Estimated Population of Incorporated Places: 2000-2005 
(cities and villages, sorted alphabetically)
(Excel spreadsheet)

Table 2: Estimated Population of Minor Civil Divisions: 2000-2005 
(cities and townships by county; cities that cross county boundaries are broken into separate parts)
(Excel spreadsheet)  

Table 3: Estimated Population of Cities, Villages, Townships, and Remainders of Townships, 2000-2005
(cities, villages, and townships by county; cities that cross county lines and villages that cross township lines are broken into separate parts; population for townships containing villages is reported for the villages and the remainder of the township)
(Excel spreadsheet)

Methodology

Available from the U.S. Census Bureau website.

Population Estimates for Other States

Available from the U.S. Census Bureau website.

For the first time since early in the twentieth century, townships accounted for more than half of Michigan’s population (50.2%) in 2005. This largely reflects several decades of urban sprawl into areas outside city boundaries.

The portions of townships outside village boundaries accounted for 47.3 percent of Michigan’s population in 2005. That figure is nearly as high as in the 1900 census, when 49.9 percent of Michigan’s population lived outside cities, villages, and other "places" recognized by the Census Bureau. The population outside of places then declined to 25.7 percent by 1930, as Michigan was transformed from a primarily agricultural state into a major industrial center. In every census since 1930, however--despite annexation of land by incorporated places--the population outside place boundaries has grown faster than the population of Michigan’s cities and villages.

A decrease in average household size is one of the factors contributing to population declines in Michigan cities. For example, decreases in the average number of children and increases in the proportion of single, divorced, or widowed individuals tend to result in the number of households increasing faster than population. In cases where cities no longer have significant amounts of land available for development, such decreases in household size tend to be translated into decreases in population within city limits and increases in urban sprawl to outlying areas where land is available for new construction.

That is one of the factors contributing to estimated population decreases in 64 percent of Michigan’s cities and villages (343 out of 533) between 2000 and 2005. During the same period, areas outside city and village boundaries gained population in 81 percent of Michigan’s townships (1007 out of 1241).

When comparing Michigan cities to those in other states, it is important to note that many cities outside Michigan have been able to annex large amounts of undeveloped land or to annex surrounding areas as they become developed. For a table showing changes in land area for the 24 cities that ranked among the nation’s 20 most populous cities in 1970 of 2000, click here.

Updated 6/21/2006

Library of Michigan, Department of History, Arts and Libraries