Detroit ― Even as the latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows Detroit’s population grew for the past three years, city officials contended Thursday the federal agency is still undercounting 25,000 residents and plans to sue to correct the alleged flaw.
The city said it will file a suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit that contends that one of the formulas used by the Census Bureau that relies on county population growth is skewing the city’s recent growth.
“We will be back in front of the judge tomorrow, and we feel like we have a very strong case with our University of Michigan subject matter experts, and our national subject matter experts on the census,” said Tricia Stein, the city’s senior director of strategic initiatives, at a Thursday press conference.
At issue is the Census Bureau’s “county cap” rule. “It means that the total population of all cities and towns within Wayne County … can’t be greater than the county’s population,” Stein said.
The city successfully challenged the Census Bureau population count in recent years under the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, that resulted in the Census Bureau adjusting how it estimated the city’s population. But the bureau is now under the Republican administration of President Donald Trump.
The latest Census estimate released Thursday shows Detroit’s population grew by an estimated 5,000 people in 2025, the third year of growth in a row for a city that had previously lost residents for nearly seven decades. But the bureau adjusted downward the population gain in 2024.
Detroit was home to an estimated 649,095 people last year, a 0.8% hike from the 644,035 residents in 2024 and 1.7% more than its population in 2020, according to the Census Bureau data released Thursday. It is the 26th largest city in the U.S. by population, an improvement from 2024’s ranking of No. 27.
Detroit gained more residents than any other city in Michigan from 2024 to 2025, continuing a stretch of population growth that many in the city have celebrated.
Prior to 2023, Detroit’s population had declined every year since 1957, a 65-year period during which Detroit began as the nation’s fifth-largest city and ended outside the top 25.
Mayor Mary Sheffield celebrated the latest Census data with various community leaders and city officials Thursday outside Johnson Recreation Center, 8550 Chippewa Street, in the Garden Homes neighborhood near Wyoming and Eight Mile.
The site of the press conference was also in the shadow of the former Higginbottom school, which is now being converted into a $35 million apartment complex with more than 100 units.
“Detroit is only one of three communities in Wayne County to have grown in population since 2020,” Sheffield said, “For decades, the story told about Detroit was always one of decline. Today, the numbers tell a different story and they tell the real story,” Sheffield said.
Much of the city’s growing population has been fueled by added housing units in previous abandoned home and apartment buildings, she said. One the city’s successful challenge to the Census count was that it overlooked renovated residential units.
Sheffield has set a goal of building 1,000 new single-family homes over her four-year term.
Staff writer Ben Warren contributed to this report.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit’s population undercounted by 25K, officials say, despite growth
Reporting by Louis Aguilar, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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