The Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison commissioned Citizens Research Council of Michigan and Altarum* to conduct a comprehensive data analysis of Michigan’s population, economic and environmental conditions to help answer a fundamental question: In what direction is Michigan heading?
Our analysis found that Michigan has been losing ground over the past five decades. It has fallen behind other states in population growth, jobs, earnings, educational achievement, health, and the quality of public services at the state and local levels. Too few interstate immigrants target Michigan as a destination, international immigration has fallen, and too many young Michigan residents are leaving.
Absent policy changes and investments, Michigan’s current path will lead to a shrinking population and continuing declines in the state’s competitiveness and quality of life. Already, other states are surpassing Michigan on a number of measures – economy, education, and infrastructure to name a few. We are now finding ourselves in the bottom third of national rankings, including 34th in household income, 36th in K-12 educational outcomes, 39th in health outcomes, 45th in electric service reliability, and 47th in road condition.
The five-part series offers a realistic, data-informed vision of Michigan’s future based on current trends and trajectories across multiple dimensions: demographic, economic, workforce, infrastructure, environment, and public services as researched by the Research Council and Altarum.
The research shows that, despite the sobering statistics, there is a real opportunity to alter this path with policies that retain young residents and attract domestic and international immigrants to Michigan. Today’s state and local political, business, community, and foundation leaders can restore Michigan’s economic engine and destination status through sustained and coordinated investments in the state and its people.
Please enjoy our reports below and let us know what you think.
- Population and Demographic Trends
- Economy, Workforce, and Talent
- Health Trends
- Infrastructure, Environment, and Preparedness for Climate Change
- Public Sector
The five-part series was funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, The Joyce Foundation, The Skillman Foundation, and the Ballmer Group.
*Altarum is a nonprofit organization focused on improving the health of individuals with fewer financial resources and populations disenfranchised by the health care system. They work primarily on behalf of federal and state governments to design and implement solutions that achieve measurable results. Altarum combines their expertise in public health and health care delivery with technology development and implementation, practice transformation, training and technical assistance, quality improvement, data analytics, and applied research and evaluation. Altarum’s innovative solutions and proven processes lead to better value and health for all. For more information, visit www.altarum.org
