The number of deaths exceeded the number of births in Hillsdale County and the state of Michigan in 2020, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Hillsdale County Clerk.
Declining population may have long-term impacts on the county’s economy, said Susan Smith, executive director of the Hillsdale County Economic Development Partnership.
County Commissioner Brad Benzing said the death rate was significantly higher in 2020 than in the three preceding years—too much higher to be explained by COVID-19 deaths alone.
Benzing said he asked the county medical examiner about it.
“His position was that our significantly higher death rate was due to the portion of our population, at least here in Hillsdale County, that was simply avoiding going to see their doctor, going to the emergency room, because they were concerned about possibly contracting COVID,” Benzing said. “They didn’t die of COVID, they died of their underlying health conditions instead.”
Benzing said this is consistent with his experience working in emergency medical services.
“We had patients that we would run a call on, and they were very adamant they didn’t want to go to the hospital, because, ‘they have COVID up there,’” he said.
According to 2020 census data, the county’s population decreased by about 2% since 2010. Deaths in Hillsdale County outnumbered births in 2020 by 161, according to data from the county clerk.
Statewide deaths exceeded births in 2020 by almost 13,000, according to data from the MDHHS.
Susan Smith, executive director of the Hillsdale County Economic Development Partnership, said a declining population could affect the local job market long term.
“We’re losing work to other countries,” Smith said, “because we don’t have the people to do the jobs.”
Smith said the loss of jobs has long-lasting economic effects.
“When we don’t have the population to fill jobs, we lose the jobs permanently,” Smith said. “Employers have to find a way to get the work done, and if people aren’t willing to work, they have to find an alternative way to get the job done.”
Smith said employers may take jobs elsewhere or increase the use of technology, reducing the need for entry-level workers.
County Commissioner Brent Leininger said the decrease in county population could also affect funding the county receives on a per capita basis.