April 15, 2005

Population grows at slower rate, census estimates show

Jackson County\'s population continued to grow in 2004 but at a slower rate than in recent years. The county had 162,973 residents in July 2004, up 0.3 percent from July 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. Statewide, communities with the biggest change in population were those located outside the state\'s largest cities, including Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids. \"Our urban centers keep losing population, and our people keep moving farther and farther out,\" said Kurt Metzger, a demographer at Wayne State University. \"It\'s kind of a redistribution of the population. We don\'t renew Michigan\'s population, we just redistribute what we\'ve got.\"

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