Michigan Sets Population Growth Goal as State Confronts Economic Challenges
Michigan aims to join the nation’s top 10 population growth states by 2050 as officials confront decades of demographic decline threatening the state’s economic future.
LANSING, MICHIGAN — Michigan officials have set an ambitious target to become a top 10 population growth state by 2050, as the state deals with decades of demographic decline that threatens its economic future and federal representation.
The Growing Michigan Together council, a bipartisan group of economic stakeholders, has identified population decline as a “significant threat” to the state’s prosperity. Michigan has ranked second-to-last for population growth in the nation for most of the last 30 years, according to state data.
The demographic challenges have already had concrete political consequences. Congressional seats have fallen from 19 to 13 since 1970, which means less federal representation and less federal money flowing into the state.
Immigration Strategy Gains Bipartisan Support
State leaders from both parties have increasingly recognized immigration as essential to Michigan’s economic revitalization efforts. Former Republican Governor Rick Snyder exemplified this approach in 2011, stating: “Immigration made us a great state and country. We need to embrace the concept again as a way to speed our reinvention.”
The Michigan League for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization, reviewed several state strategies and reports that pointed to the importance of immigrants as drivers of growth, innovation and economic revitalization.
Aging Population Creates Additional Pressures
The state faces compounding demographic pressures as the baby boomer generation ages out of the workforce. State projections indicate that deaths will soon outpace births and deepen population decline through 2050, putting more pressure on state finances and the labor force.
Experts, from state demographers to the private sector, have highlighted the challenges that population decline poses in Michigan. The state’s own planners acknowledge that achieving the top 10 population growth goal requires attracting significantly more newcomers.
Economic trends have spotlighted the growing importance of immigrant community members to Michigan’s economic development goals, according to the policy organization’s analysis of state strategies and reports.
