Census Bureau ships numbers to Michigan

LANSING, Mich. (AP/WOOD) - The U.S. Census Bureau has sent new data on Michigan's population to state officials.

The agency said Monday it had shipped the report from the 2010 census to Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative leaders. After they have confirmed receiving it, the bureau will release the information to the public. That should happen around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Among the data will be population summaries by race, Hispanic origin and voting age for jurisdictions such as counties, cities and school districts.

Lawmakers will use the information to adjust boundaries for U.S. House and legislative districts in Michigan, which is losing one of its 15 congressional seats after being the only state with a population decline over the past decade.

The numbers will shed light on which areas lost the most residents.

Gustavo Rotondaro, of the Community Research Institute at Grand Valley State University, expects the census to show Kent County is a different place than it was in 2000.

West Michigan residents can get a better idea of what to expect by looking at the numbers from a smaller, five-year survey the census does; which shows Kent County's population increased by nearly 30,000 people over the past 10 years.

"We also want to try to start answering the question, are we a more diverse community?" Rotondaro said.

At this point, it also appears for the very first time, Kent County's Hispanic and Latino population could edge out African Americans as the largest minority group -- growing by an estimated 15,000 people in the past 10 years.

But why are those numbers important?

"The relevance of the census data is, a lot of federal programs are based on this estimate -- on these population accounts," Rotondaro said. "Allocations of resources of financial resources get based on these totals."

So, even if it's discovered that Kent County's population went up, like the experts expect, the fact that the state's population decreased could still affect residents across Michigan.

"It will be less resources, so they'll probably have to do more with less money," Rotondaro said.

For the past 40 years, after each census, Michigan has lost a seat in the House of Representatives.

24 Hour News 8 also expects to learn if more Kent County homes are empty now compared to a decade ago, due to the mortgage crisis.

The numbers used in this comparison have a larger margin of error than the census will, because they're based on a smaller survey.

News 8 reporter Dani Carlson contributed to this story.