The Asian American and Hispanic communities in Metro Detroit grew significantly over the last half-decade, helping to fuel a small boost in Michigan’s population, newly released Census Bureau data shows.
The Asian American populations of Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties jumped 8% from 2023 to 2024, the most of any ethnic group. The number of Hispanic residents in Macomb and Oakland counties has increased by more than 10% since 2020.
The latest Census Bureau release contains county-level data on age, race and sex across all U.S. states and Puerto Rico through July 1, 2024. It uses an adjusted version of the 2020 decennial census and updated information on births, deaths and migration.
Census data released earlier this year showed that Michigan’s population grew more in 2024 than it had in several decades, driven in large part by immigration to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Those three counties grew by more than 30,000 residents. Michigan’s population increased by 57,000 residents in 2024 to 10.14 million due solely to immigration growth.
State Rep. Ranjeev Puri, a Canton Township Democrat who represents part of Wayne County, called the new demographic numbers “exciting news.”
“The ethnic diversity of Michigan is one of the strong suits,” Puri said.
Puri, the Michigan House Democratic leader, is the highest-ranking South Asian official in the state, as well as the first person of color to represent his district.
He said it is important to remember the “rich diversity” of the many Asian American communities across the state. “All of that woven into Michigan makes it a much better place,” Puri said.
Canton Township, which makes up most of Puri’s district, has experienced “a tremendous amount of growth” in recent years, particularly among communities of color, he said. The community of 99,873 residents is 62% White, nearly 20% Asian, 10% Black and 4.5% Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.
Puri said he takes the responsibility to represent these constituents seriously. “My goal is to make sure that every community has representation,” he said.
Lex Zavala, who has spent 22 years serving the Latino community in Metro Detroit with the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, said the growth in immigrant populations helps communities thrive.
When Zavala, now the DHDC’s interim executive director, was growing up in southwest Detroit, most of the Latino population did not speak Spanish.
That all changed when he was a teenager. The arrival of Mexican and Central American immigrants “influenced our community in a way that it grew, it blossomed…,” he said.
The neighborhood, to Zavala, represents “an example of what happens when immigrants are allowed to dream and grow.”
The growth of Latino communities in Oakland and Macomb counties can be attributed to a combination of recent waves of Venezuelan and Colombian immigrants and upwardly mobile Hispanic families from neighboring areas, said Elias Gutiérrez, founder and publisher of The Latino Press, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper in Detroit.
Osvaldo “Ozzie” Rivera, a longtime community organizer and musician who teaches Afro-Latino history and culture at Wayne State University, said a strong Latino community has existed in places like River Rouge and Highland Park since the first half of the 20th century.
Rivera has worked to document the long history of Latino organizers and musicians in the Detroit area.
“If you don’t know the past, you don’t know the present,” he said.
Zavala’s work at the DHDC has adapted to meet the needs of a more spread-out community.
“We’re just following where our community goes, making sure they’re really receiving the services they need,” he said.
The DHDC runs programs teaching English with a vocational focus to help immigrants who were professionals in their home country get licensed in the United States. The organization also helps community members start businesses and buy their first homes.
“A lot of people that come are coming with their green cards, refugee citizenships — they’re able to have their Social Security numbers, purchase homes, start businesses,” Zavala said.
Recent immigration crackdowns by the Trump administration have cast a shadow on Latino communities across the Metro area, he said.
“The Latino population is scared to go out. It’s almost back to COVID lockdown,” Zavala said.
And immigrant-run businesses have suffered, he said: “Our business district is empty now. Restaurants and construction can’t find enough workers to fill their space.”
President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, starting with immigrant criminals who are in the country illegally but also deporting others who are found to be in the country illegally.
As Latino communities outside of southwest Detroit continue to expand, however, Zavala was optimistic.
“I think for the majority, people understand that these are hardworking people that are coming here to build the American Dream just like previous immigrant populations,” he said.
bwarren@detroitnews.com
