According to the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics, the state is experiencing slow overall population growth, but that is due to immigration, not the birthrate, which is declining because an increasing proportion of residents is becoming older.

While births have declined, deaths have been increasing, and the state’s overall population is expected to begin decreasing in the next 10 years, the center says.

These trends are especially pronounced in the Upper Peninsula and other rural areas.

Among all counties in the UP, only Houghton County gained in population in the last 10 years. The others declined by a total of 3.1%, according to a report by Rural Insights, a research center affiliated with Northern Michigan University.

As a result, the UP's political power in state and federal elections and policymaking will decline compared to the rest of the state, according to an article by Rural Insights Institute Director David Haynes, a former president of Northern Michigan University.

The state government is pursuing policies to reverse the trend. Those include strategies intended to impact housing and labor shortages and reduce the cost of living.