Overall, the population of the U.P.'s 15 counties grew a scant 1.2 percent. The U.P. bucked the common trend of seeing large counties grow and smaller counties decline. Marquette County—easily the UP's most populated—registered the largest population decline at 9 percent, and the city of Marquette lost almost 11 percent. Meanwhile, six counties posted double-digit gains, only one of which had more than 12,000 people in 2000.
Part of Marquette's population decline was the result of the closure of Sawyer Air Force Base—home to several thousand military personnel and their families—in 1995. The majority of the U.P.'s 11 cities with more than 5,000 people lost people in the last decade, while population gains were strongest in townships.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
