Detroit’s population increased for the third straight year, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, serving as a win for city officials, like Mayor Mary Sheffield, who say boosting residents is a key factor in stabilizing the city’s long-term financial health.
The city’s population grew to 649,095 residents in 2025, compared with 644,035 in the 2024 estimate — just shy of a 1% increase.
Much of the population growth can be attributed to existing and new housing in Detroit, officials said. Two years ago, housing was at the center of a legal battle between Detroit and the Census Bureau because the bureau counted the the city’s demolished and vacant buildings, as well as structures undergoing renovations as population losses. Eventually, with the backing of data, the bureau revised the numbers and released figures showing Detroit actually gained population.
And it has been on an upward trajectory ever since.
“Three years of consecutive population growth shows very clearly that Detroit is a place more people want to live and that its best days are ahead of it,” Mayor Sheffield said in a statement. “My administration is laser-focused right now on continuing our population growth by building more housing, including 1,000 new single-family homes over the next four years, and by being a city that supports the needs of existing residents and new Detroiters alike.”
Kurt Metzger, founder of Data Driven Detroit, said he believes the city is actually closer to 675,000 residents, but the bureau’s methodology around the “county cap” rule might be holding back numbers. The rule determines numbers based on population estimates of all towns and cities within the county, and cannot exceed the county’s total population estimate.
“They add them all up and they see how they compare to the Wayne County total for 2025, and if it’s higher, they have to adjust every number downward,” Metzger said. “Because the city has worked really closely with the Census Bureau to understand the housing conditions in Detroit, they have gotten the Census Bureau to add the category of rehabs. They now recognize rehabs as a piece of the (growth) puzzle.”
Population estimates, previously, were based solely on new housing units. The city’s past challenges with the feds opened the door for the bureau to recognize homes within the Detroit Land Bank Authority and elsewhere that have been put back to use as residences that should be counted, Metzger said.
The Census Bureau undercounted residents between 2021 and 2022, calculating a population loss of 8,000 residents due to the city’s aggressive demolition program, which took down 4,000 derelict structures during that time frame. The agency counted a loss of two residents per house taken down, which former Mayor Mike Duggan fought. Eventually, the bureau revised its policy to stop counting demolitions and abandoned structures as population losses.
“The benefit of that is Detroit has seen population growth over the last three years,” Metzger said.
However, new housing is not the sole driver. People are looking for vibrant cities with an active downtown full of restaurants, retail and nightlife, in addition to housing.
“I think that’s still bringng in the younger, more educated population,” Metzger said.
Detroit’s growth is a significant piece of Michigan’s overall increase in population: As of July 1, 2025, the state added 27,992 residents, showing growth for the fourth year in a row.
Population growth is among Sheffield’s top priorities.
On the campaign trail, the mayor promised to hire a Chief Growth Officer, in part, to lead population growth efforts.
Although the city does not yet have someone serving in that official role, Sheffield announced the Move Detroit Initiative — within her first 100 days — to retain current Detroiters and attract new residents to help grow the city’s tax base and help offset the loss of more temporary and one-time funding from the state and federal governments. Michigan’s former Chief Growth Officer Hilary Doe will lead the initiative, in partnership with Dan Gilbert and the MoveDetroit Coalition.
Free Press data reporter Kristi Tanner contributed to this report.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit population rises for 3rd straight year, Census data shows
Reporting by Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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