Michigan is experiencing population growth, as shown by recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s population increased for the fourth consecutive year, largely due to international migration. Between July 2024 and July 2025, Michigan gained about 28,000 new residents, raising the population by 0.27% to 10,127,884, according to Mlive.
Michigan saw a reversal in its long-term trend of losing residents to other states, gaining about 1,800 people through domestic migration, as mentioned by Bridge Michigan. This gain is mainly due to fewer people leaving rather than more moving in. The state’s population growth is still below the national average. Nationwide, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that net international migration dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million between July 2024 and June 2025, as noted by The Detroit News. In Michigan, deaths now exceed births, making migration an important factor in the state’s population change.
Commenting on migration trends, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, "Michigan is the place to be," noting the state's fourth consecutive year of population growth. "In 2025, Michigan’s population grew for the fourth year in a row as we welcomed nearly 28,000 new Michiganders. Also, for the first time since the early ’90s, more people moved into Michigan from other states than moved out," Whitmer said, attributing the success to the state's focus on improving residents’ daily lives. She added that "Our work to get things done on the kitchen-table issues that make a real difference in people’s lives is paying off," and emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to improve living conditions and economic opportunities in Michigan, as per Mlive.
While the data paints a picture of positive momentum, experts like Kurt Metzger, founder and director emeritus of Data Driven Detroit, advise a measured response. "The most important is the fact that we saw net positive domestic migration. I go back to 1991 in my data and we've never seen it," Metzger stated in a report by The Detroit News. However, he cautioned that "Let's not get too excited" over the total population growth figure, due to the downward revisions of prior years' estimates by the Census Bureau. With international migration showing a drastic decline from previous years, and domestic migration only incrementally positive, Michigan's continued population growth remains dependent on changing tides of policy and economic opportunity.
