DETROIT (WXYZ) — According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Detroit lost nearly 8,000 people between 2021 and 2022.
If that's true, it would be the largest loss of any city in Michigan.
"Mostly, it mystifies me. The Census Bureau is the most incompetent division in the entire federal government," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told 7 Action News in response to the new numbers.
Duggan said he has no idea how the bureau can say Detroit's population has gone down. In fact in 2022, Detroit sued the Census Bureau, asking for their formula behind their population projections.
Researchers from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University found their projections undercounted Detroit by more than 8% in some neighborhoods.
If that's true, it means there may be thousands of people who weren't counted.
"The Census director, Robert Santos, came out and said ‘In America, we missed 3% of our African American residents, 5% of our Latino residents,’" Duggan said.
These numbers matter to municipalities. Duggan has estimated that $10 million in state revenue sharing is lost each year while the population is not accurately counted.
David Gaber's team with Two Men and a Truck helps move more than 25 people in and out of the city every week.
"I don’t know how the number can be going down with all the apartments we’re seeing and all the people we’re moving," Gaber said.
He said most people they move are either moving in or out due to work.
"I said it only half-jokingly, I think we should put it on the post office," Duggan said when asked how he would like the population to be counted if not by the Census Bureau.
According to the mayor, home prices, housing projects and the addresses receiving mail in Detroit are clear signs the city's population is increasing. He said 2,300 new residential homes in Detroit got mail in 2022.
Detroit is now barely among the country's 30 most populous cities. It's fallen 11 spots in the past eight years.
"We’re going to keep fighting until Detroiters are counted," Duggan said. "That’s all we want is an honest count."
