Reading, Pa. Meet Flint, Mi.

Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times reports:

These are common stories in Reading, a struggling city of 88,000 that has earned the unwelcome distinction of having the largest share of its residents living in poverty, barely edging out Flint, Mich., according to new Census Bureau data. The count includes only cities with populations of 65,000 or more, and has a margin of error that makes it difficult to declare a winner — or, perhaps more to the point, a loser.

U.S. Census: One of a Kind

Michigan is the only state in the union that lost population in the last decade, according to 2010 U.S. Census data.

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight speculates on what it means for Michigan's congressional districts:

Michigan (−1 seat) As in Ohio, many Michigan districts have lost population. The districts with the largest population losses, the 13th and the 14th, are Democratic-leaning parts of Detroit, and Republicans are in control of redistricting, which would seem to give them an edge.

Michigan’s current boundaries were already pretty decent for Republicans — and some of their strongholds have lost population, too — so while they can work to improve the odds that the lost seat will be a Democratic one, they may not be able to guarantee it. For instance, they could try to force Democratic incumbents Dale Kildee and Gary Peters, now of the 5th and 9th districts, to compete against one another — but that might render the 11th or the 8th districts, now held by Republicans, more vulnerable.

Genesee County's African-American Diaspora

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Genesee County population dropped to 428,790 in 2008 from 437,445 in 2006. That's not a big shock, but the racial disparity in the expatriates is unusual: "The county lost nearly 7 percent of its black community, but less than 1 percent of its white population between 2000 and 2008," reports Beata Mostafavi of The Flint Journal.