Detroit lost 25% of its population in the last decade

Detroit, which reached a population peak of 1.85 million residents in 1950, was once the fourth-largest city in the U.S.

Detroit registered the largest population decrease among all United States cities over a 10-year period.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s report released Tuesday, Detroit’s headcount dropped to 718,777 in 2010 from 951,270 in 2000.

The 25 percent reduction in population is the result of the decline of the car manufacturing industry based in the Michigan city. It is the lowest population for Detroit since the 1910 census.

Detroit, which once boasted a population of 1.85 million residents in 1950, was at one time the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Because of the population reduction, Michigan’s total population dropped 0.6 percent to 9.89 million from 9.94 million, which will cause the state another congressional district.

In 1960, Michigan had 19 seats in the U.S. House of Representative. Because of the state’s population decline, the number of seats has been whittled to 14.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing disputed the census data because of the history of undercounting residents in large cities. Bing is questioning the accuracy of the census headcount – which he said failed to verify another 40,000 residents – is because of the impact of the population data on federal and state funding.

Because of the report, remaining Detroit residents are becoming hopeless that the city could ever recover from the economic slump caused by the decline in the automobile industry.