State’s largest city and county continues to shrink

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Wisconsin could have a million more residents by 2035, while the state’s largest city and county keep shrinking.

That’s according to the state’s Demographic Services Center. It released its estimates in October but they didn’t get much attention until the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put out a story about them this morning (Monday).

The report says Wisconsin will have more than 6.6 million residents by 2035, and more than one-fifth of them will be 65 or older.

Milwaukee County’s population is expected to drop by about 77,000, to 863,000. And the city of Milwaukee could lose another 50,000 people, with a projected population of 544,000 by 2030.

Mayor Tom Barrett says he’s not sweating the latest numbers. He says the state and federal governments use different formulas in estimating future populations and his biggest concern is to get more people to grow and invest in the city.

Housing developers say they’re worried about the trends. But Robert Greenstreet of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee takes a more optimistic view. He says a city’s success is based on its vibrancy and quality of life, and not just its population density.

Tags: wisconsin news, milwaukee, area, population, decline