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Major milestone in recovery Flint sees population growth

Flint sees population growth for first time in 25 years

Flint's population has grown for the first time in 25 years, according to the Michigan Growth Office.

The government organization was started in 2024 by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to encourage more people to move to the Great Lakes state.

Chief Growth Officer Hillary Doe is tasked with bringing people back to Michigan to live, start a business, or bring in talent. She says often, people forget the importance population has on the big picture.

"In particular, we noticed as well, we had an aging population that was aging faster then other states," she said.

The cause can be multiple factors, like leaving to go south for warmer weather, or the recession in 2007.

The report from 2010 shows that Michigan lost the most people in their history between 2009 and 2010.

"Even when you get job growth after economic shocks like that and you see GDP growth, it often takes even longer for populations to recover," she said.

Spring forward 10 years to the 2020 census, and Michigan made a slight leap, but still ranked among the lowest for population growth in the entire country.

But there is good news.

"The growth in our young adult population is now accelerating faster than 45 other states," Doe said. "We are top 5 in the country and that was not the case in the 2010's."

Doe says the hope is to change the trend of slow population growth by simply making the state more attractive to live in.

Her office started by taking a survey of more than 20-thousand people to see why people like the state and what they would change.

With that feedback, they have created policy recommendations like first time home buyer grants, free child care for kids 4 and younger, and more.

"We have launched the Innovation Fund, the 60 million dollar fund to invest into our entrepreneurs to help them stay here and scale their companies here," she said. "We have invested things like education, Pre-K, and community college access."

https://midmichigannow.com/news/special-...in-25-years-michigan-state-growth-census