2010 Census: The specifics for the Greater Manchester area and Washtenaw County

For some people, last Tuesday was just that, a plain old Tuesday. But for some, including this reporter, it was like Christmas morning.
Last Tuesday was the day that detailed counts of Michigan's municipalities' populations was released by the Census Bureau. This data showed the population changes of everything from the City of Detroit, which got its population numbers decimated the last ten years, dropping to 713,777, to Pointe Aux Barques Township in Huron County, which only has 10 residents (How do they manage that?!?).
Census data, which was collected last spring, is vital to areas such as representation, growth and probably most importantly, funding. Funding for the next ten years is determined using census data, and a decrease in population can be devastating to a municipality's state-shared revenue.
Locally, numbers for the greater Manchester area varied. The Village of Manchester saw a slight decrease, going from 2,170 in 2000 to 2,091, a decrease of 79 people, or 3.6 percent.
The data was much different for Manchester Township, which saw an increase of people. The township gained 438 people, going up from 4,097 to 4,569, a 11.5 percent increase.
In Bridgewater Township, very little change in population took place, with an additional 23 people registering as living in the township. In 2010, 1,674 people lived in Bridgewater Township, compared to 1,651 11 years ago. Same thing applied to Sharon Township, with only a 3.5 percent increase, going from 1,678 to 1,737.
Freedom Township was the only township in the southwest corner of Washtenaw County to lose population, going from 1,573 to 1,428, a decrease of 9.2 percent.
Overall, the Greater Manchester area (the village and the four surrounding townships) had a population of 11,578.
The trend in the southwest corner of the county seemed similar to what happened across the county, except in smaller terms. More city populations decreased this cycle, and more people are living in outside townships. To see other municipalities in Washtenaw County's population, check out the map below and click on a marker.