DETROIT- May 15, 2025 – On Thursday, the Census Bureau announced that Detroit’s population grew by nearly 6,800 people in 2024. That’s nearly double the growth rate for the State of Michigan and ahead of the national average. The Census Bureau also credited Detroit with an additional 5,200 residents the Census Bureau acknowledged it missed in past years.
When Mike Duggan was first elected mayor, Detroit was shrinking. The city was in the middle of the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy. Families and young people were leaving the city in the thousands because jobs and opportunities were elsewhere.
When he took office, Mike Duggan promised not only to put a stop to decades of decline but to actually grow the city’s population. “I only want to be judged on one standard,” he said in his 2015 State of the City address. “Is the population of the city of Detroit going up or is it going down? I think that is the one true gauge of a mayor’s success.”
Today, Detroit is growing once again. Detroit is now the 26th largest city in the nation, surpassing Portland, Oregon and is now just behind Boston in population.
Behind these statistics are a story: young people, families, and business owners are moving to Detroit because it gives them the opportunity to buy a home, get an education, find a good-paying job, and build a better life.
And this historic turn around isn’t an accident. It’s the result of the optimism, energy, and determination of the people of Detroit. And it is the result of Mike Duggan’s bold and far-sighted leadership.When he took office, Mike Duggan put aside petty politics and instead put the people of Detroit first. He brought together civic leaders, community leaders, labor and business leaders to find new solutions to seemingly impossible problems. With the support of that coalition, Mike Duggan tore down the abandoned buildings and invested in quality housing that people could actually afford. He attracted new companies that brought good-paying jobs and ensured young people and entrepreneurs could create a future for themselves in Detroit. Mike Duggan took a city that was in bankruptcy, losing thousands of people every month, and ushered in growth.
Michigan needs the kind of leadership that Mike Duggan has brought to Detroit–leadership based on results not rhetoric. As Governor, Mike Duggan will end the partisan infighting that’s paralyzed Lansing for far too long. He’ll take on the broken political system and build coalitions to address the issues that matter most.
Politics is broken in Michigan. To fix it, we need to try something new. We need a leader who will deliver real change. We need someone who can work across the aisle and stand up to both the Democrats and the Republicans. We need Mike Duggan, an Independent for Governor. We’ve seen what he’s done in Detroit. Imagine what he’ll do for the State of Michigan.
