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Tuesday, Mar 22, 2011 7:38 PM UTC

Detroit’s population plummets 25 percent in a decade

City's recorded a net loss of 65 inhabitants per day in the past decade, according to Census data

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Topics: 2010 Census,

Detroit's population plummets 25 percent in a decade

New census data shows that Detroit’s population dropped 25 percent in the last decade, with the city losing more than 237,000 people. That figure translates into a exodus of 65 residents per day over 10 years, according to The Detroit News. 

A significant drop was expected, but U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Tuesday caught some experts off-guard.

The data shows Detroit’s population fell from 951,270 in 2000, to 713,777 in 2010. State demographer Ken Darga says that’s “considerably lower” than the Census Bureau estimate released last year.

The data reflects the exodus of city residents to the suburbs and the auto industry’s steady decline. The Motor City’s population peaked at 1.8 million in 1950, when it ranked fifth nationally.

Gov. Rick Snyder says the numbers “clearly show how crucial it is to reinvent Michigan” and that the state can no longer “cling to the old ways of doing business.”

More John Flesher.

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