DETROIT – The City of Detroit filed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 population estimate shorted the city’s population by tens of thousands of residents.
The city argues there are numerous data sources that show the city’s population is growing despite the Census registering population losses.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Census Bureau violated its own policies when it canceled its challenge program. The complaint also said the Census Bureau refused to review any evidence of undercounting provided by the city or share how it reached its estimate.
If the city is correct and there was an undercount, it could cost Detroit millions of dollars in federal funding, according to a press release.
Read: Detroit is largest city to challenge 2020 census numbers
The lawsuit is focused on the 2021 estimate, which is based on the 2020 decennial census that the city has also been challenging. The 2021 estimate, released in May, showed an additional loss of more than 7,000 residents.
“The Census Bureau used a formula to estimate Detroit’s population that showed the city losing more than 7,000 residents from just one year prior,” said Mayor Duggan. “Any formula claiming the city is still losing population defies facts and common sense, given the thousands of newly constructed and renovated housing units in the city, as well as increases in residential utility connections. Activity like this does not happen when more people are leaving the city than moving in.”
Detroit is asking the Census Bureau to share how it calculated the population numbers.
Detroit argues that evidence they obtained regarding U.S. Postal Service delivery records, DTE Energy account data, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department records and Detroit Land Bank Authority occupancy data show that Detroit gained tens of thousands of residents between the 2020 and 2021 estimate.
“So, while one federal agency claims that Detroit lost population, another is delivering mail to more addresses, DTE is providing power to more Detroiters, and DWSD is servicing more accounts. The Bureau refuses to consider this evidence,” the press release stated.
The Census Bureau had an administrative procedure to allow cities to challenge errors in annual population estimates, but it was canceled for 2022 and won’t resume until 2023.
“When the City requested the calculations underlying the 2021 estimate (step one in the challenge process), it was denied within hours, leaving Detroit unable to administratively fix the 2021 undercount,” the press release stated.
The city is alleging that the Census Bureau violated federal administrative law by not allowing challenges to annual estimates.
Read: 2020 Census data and map: Michigan population change by county since 2010
“The Census Bureau’s failure to follow its own program rules, and the conclusive evidence that Detroit’s population rose from 2020 and 2021, provide clear justification for a court to order the Bureau to fix the 2021 undercount so Detroiters can get their fair share of federal funds,” said Detroit’s Corporation Counsel, Conrad Mallett.
According to the press release, the Census Bureau previously acknowledged that the 2020 Census undercounted the nation’s Black population by 3.30% and the Hispanic population by 4.99%. City officials said Detroit has a combined Black and Hispanic population of more than 84%.
“That amounts to an undercount of over 20,000 Detroiters. Yet in its 2021 estimate of the City’s population released in May 2022, rather than fix this admitted error, the Bureau reduced the population by an additional 7,150 people,” the press release stated.
“Census undercounts have alarming real world consequences that deprive cities like Detroit of their fair and intended share of critical funding for schools, hospitals, affordable housing, and more,” said U.S. Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14). “If the census is not accurate, then the annual population numbers that guide hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid to communities and families are not accurate either,” Rep. Lawrence added. “Cities must have a meaningful way to challenge their annual estimates. That is why as Vice-Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, I successfully advanced language related to the Census Bureau’s funding bill for the upcoming fiscal year that directs the bureau to expand the scope of the Population Estimates Challenge Program so that cities across the country have a real chance to improve the accuracy of their annual numbers. I thank Mayor Duggan for his leadership and efforts to find a remedy to the undercount. We are Detroit and we do not sit on the sidelines. We will stand up and fight.”
View the lawsuit below: