Detroit has been called one of America’s dead cities. Its population peaked in 1950 at 1,849,568. According to Census figures, it had dropped to 620,376 in 2022. The county in which Detroit is the largest city lost population again in 2023. These are the cities where the middle class is shrinking.
The new U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2023 estimates of population showed Detroit’s Wayne County lost 7,772 people between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023. That was the ninth-largest drop among all US counties, bringing Wayne County’s population to 1,751,169. In 2020, Wayne County’s population was 1,793,914, so the drop last year was not an anomaly. Wayne County’s population hit a record 2,666,751 in 1970.
The last time the Census posted detailed data on Wayne County was 2022. Its population was similar to Detroit’s: 55 percent White. Thirty-eight percent were Black. The median household income was $57,223. That compares to a nationwide figure of $74,580. Wayne County’s poverty rate was 21.2%, which is slightly less than double the national number,
Detroit is in trouble demographically, and So is Wayne County, the county it is part of.
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