Census count shows Hamtramck’s population increased by 26 percent

The 2020 Census results are out, and Hamtramck has plenty to celebrate. Our population increased by a little over 6,000 people. That means the city will qualify for more state and federal grants, and see more money for road repair. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck’s population exploded in the last 10 years.
The results of the 2020 US Census were recently released, and to the surprise of many, the city’s headcount increased by 26 percent since the last census in 2010.
That percentage increase translates into 6,010 more people who live here.
To look at it from another perspective, we went from 22,423 people to 28,433.
“This is really good news,” said Mayor Karen Majewski, in her weekly address to the community via the city’s Facebook page. “We were woefully undercounted in 2010.”
However, Majewski is still skeptical about the city’s true population count.
“We know it’s more than that,” she said.
A huge challenge facing the city with Census counts is that many immigrant families who live here don’t fill out Census forms for fear that the government will use that information against them.
Census information, by law, is kept private, and is not shared with other government agencies.
With that challenge in mind, the city organized a campaign, called Hamtramck Complete Count.
Virginia Skrzyniarz, who chaired the group, credited the city’s successful count to a couple of things: social media, for helping spread the word and the importance of getting an accurate count; and, also, involving Hamtramck’s ethnic community leaders.
“We worked smarter, not harder,” Skrzyniarz said.
A key message that was sent out, she said, was: more people who are counted results in more grant monies coming to the city for such things like road repairs and infrastructure improvements.
“I’m excited because people are going to see the benefits of being counted,” Skrzyniarz said.
Hamtramck has had mixed results in past Census counts. In 2010, there was a drop in the population count, but back in 1990, there was a much more concerted effort, which resulted in 4,000 more people being counted.
This latest increase by percentage is the highest recorded in all of Wayne County, and is also the second highest in the entire state.
In the weeks to come, we will take a deeper dive into what the Census revealed about Hamtramck.
Posted Aug. 20, 2021

Headline corrected on Aug. 24, 2021