LANSING – Michigan lost enough people in to lose another congressional seat following the 2010 census – the biggest population loss in the nation.

Michigan lost an estimated 46,368 people, or 0.5 percent of its total population, in the last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which released its annual estimates Monday.

That means Michigan will most definitely lose a congressional seat following the 2010 census, according to Ed Sarpolus.

Sarpolus, who is with the Michigan Education Association, said because the state needs more than 100,000 than the annual losses, it is unlikely the state will hold onto 15 seats in the U.S. House. To lose a second seat, Sarpolus said, 600,000 people need to leave the state, which is also unlikely, but possible given the state’s current economic climate.

If so, it would mark the fourth consecutive census that has left the state with fewer members of Congress. At its peak, from 1962 to 1982, the state had 19 members of the U.S. House.

Kenneth Darga, the state’s demographer, said this is a trend already in place over the past few years.

Michigan is still ranked as the eighth largest state, population-wise, with 10,003,422 people still residing in the state, 3.2 percent of the nation’s population.

“Michigan has the biggest loss in the nation,” Darga said. “Usually, a couple of states are as bad or worse, but our domestic migration rate went from 1 percent to 1.1 percent, which is a fairly small change, but not a good rate.”

Governor Jennifer Granholm attributed the population loss to the state’s continued economic woes.

While the loss was not minimal, Darga said, the numbers were projected to be worse and actually fared better than expected. He said the national housing market has been making it difficult to leave and relatively steady job market from October, 2007 to the summer months of this year lead to more people staying in the state.

As a whole, however, the Midwest region has gained in population. In 2007, 66.3 million people lived in the region, and in 2008 that number jumped to 66.6 million , a gain of 248,886 people, or .4 percent. The Midwest region includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

For statistics taken between July 2007 and July 2008, Michigan is one of two states to lose residents – Rhode Island has also seen a decrease in population. Michigan also lost a greater percentage of people compared to Rhode Island; Michigan lost .5 percent, and Rhode Island .2 percent, or a loss of 2,348 people.

“Rhode Island had been losing more than Michigan, and last year they had the highest loss and domestic migration rate,” Darga said. New York also had a high domestic migration rate, but both states showed “substantial improvements, while Michigan stayed about the same.”

Michigan has gained in population from , however, with a gain of 0.7 percent or 64,930 residents.

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