Michigan continues to bleed residents, losses to other states double in 2023

• Michigan lost 20,000 residents due to out-state net migration in 2023, more than double the 9,900 in 2022
• Florida remains the top destination for Michigan residents leaving the state, with Ohio ranking second
• Michigan's migration losses are compounded by deaths outnumbering births in the state

Michigan’s migration losses more than doubled in 2023, according to the Census data released last week, with Florida again luring thousands of Michigan residents.

The latest numbers show that over 155,000 moved out of state in 2023 and 135,000 moved into it, for a net loss of over 20,000, up from a 9,900 person loss in 2022.

The losses mirror what national moving van companies have said for several years. And the numbers come amid renewed scrutiny over the state’s stagnant population, which has hovered about 10 million since the 1990s, when it was the eighth most populous state. It’s now 10th.

Last year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created a commission of business and civic leaders last year to study ways to grow the state. It suggested education reforms, increased public transportation and millions in community investments.

Since then, little has been done, said Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which focused on the state’s population challenges in a 2023 series of articles. 

“It has gotten the attention of some,” Lupher said. “There’s not much to show for it so far.”

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Lawmakers haven’t done nothing. 

They did approve a new community-college guarantee, making it free for the first two years for most high school graduates in the state, a goal of the commission, which  wanted it extended to public universities.

Since the 2020 Census, when Michigan had 10,077,674 people, the state has lost an estimated 0.4%, or about 40,000 people. From 1990 to 2020, Michigan ranked 49th in population growth, ahead of only West Virginia.

Over the last three years, the new migration data shows an estimated net loss of 45,141 people, with Florida alone adding nearly 30,000 more Michigan residents than it lost to the state.

Stagnant-to-declining population makes it harder for governments at all levels to pay for infrastructure, public safety and other necessary services and can lead to a shortage of workers in all areas, from health care to construction.

The latest estimates, based on responses to the American Community Survey, show more migration throughout 2023 than a previous Census estimate that ended in the middle of the year, indicating that out-of-state moves accelerated in the last half of the year.

Fewer people moved across the country during the pandemic but are more willing to do so now, said Brian Asquith, an economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research based in Kalamazoo. 

Although Florida was the No. 1 destination, bordering state Ohio was No. 2, where nearly 16,000 moved in 2023. Nearly 8,900 moved the other way, for a net loss of over 6,900 to the Buckeye state.

Since 2021, Ohio has had a net-gain of nearly 12,200 Michigan residents.

Compounding the problem: Michigan has one of the lowest rates nationally in attracting new residents from other states, ranking 49th behind only California.

“That’s where you see we’re weakest,”  said Xuan Liu, research manager of data analysis for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. 

Anecdotally, he said most people who come to Michigan already have ties, having grown up in the state or have family there.

Thirty states had a net gain in 2023, while 20 had net losses including Great Lakes states Minnesota and Illinois.

But some of the states that lose more people to other states are still growing in overall population because of higher levels of international migration and because there are more births than deaths.

That’s no longer occurring in Michigan, which in 2023 was one of 19 states where deaths outnumbered births.

Asquith, the economist, said many states are facing the same demographic problem of having an aging population. In Michigan’s favor, he said, is its “amenity rich” natural resources.

Though the overall numbers were small, people have been moving to rural Michigan since the beginning of the pandemic, Asquith said. They found they can work remotely and many have chosen to do so from rural Michigan.

“The question isn’t whether it (the moves) happened, the question is whether it sticks,” he said. Those moves, found in parts of the UP and northern Michigan “provide a blueprint” for potential future moves.

Asquith said moving to Florida may soon become less attractive because of the rising costs of home insurance. On the coasts of Florida, the annual bill is nearly $11,000, more than four times the national average.

“Some of those affordability factors are going to move in Michigan’s favor in the future,” he said.