37,967 in the past five years.

Detroit's population, meanwhile, continued to drop, but the losses were small compared to past years. The city's population was 672,662 as of last summer, a loss of 1,526. The previous year's loss was 2,695.

"The lessening of the decrease is important," said Eric Guthrie, the state's demographer. "When you are steering a big ship, it takes a little bit to turn it around."

And experts caution that the estimates are less reliable the farther away from the decennial census, which is when the bureau performs an actual headcount and will be performed in 2020.

For yearly estimates, census officials take into account new housing permits and demolitions, and those may not be the best measures in Detroit, said Kurt Metzger, a demographer and director emeritus ofData Driven Detroit and mayor of Pleasant Ridge.

Detroit remains the nation's 23rd largest city, and its loss was lower than others: Baltimore lost 7,346 residents, Chicago 7,073 and St. Louis 5,028 in the latest estimates.

The increase of residents in Grand Rapids Township isn't surprising to Michael DeVries, the supervisor of Grand Rapids Township, which saw its population grow by 238 residents to 18,602 last summer.

The township saw its first apartment complex, at 280 units, open up last year in response to the demand for housing.

"There's a shift going on," said DeVries, who is also the chair of the Grand Valley Metro Council, a partnership of local governments in West Michigan. "The city of Grand Rapids has seen a huge influx of apartment buildings."

Algoma Township, a rural area about