John Davey, the mayor of Bloomfield Hills, attributed the rising age of his city to the skyrocketing home prices. And only a very small number of people can afford to pay those kinds of prices. Other wealthy , mostly white suburbs also posted median ages in the late 40s or early 50s, including Grosse Pointe Shores and Bingham Farms. Race and economics play a part in younger cities, too. Detroit is one of Michigan's youngest communities with a median age of 30.9.
Demographers say the city's large number of single moms with young kids holds down the median age.
Harper Woods is getting younger as its African-American population rises. The city's median age dropped to 38.2 in 2000 from 40.6 in 1990 even as its black population rose from under 1 percent to more than 10 percent. Again, Metzger suggested that black families with children moving in lowered the city's overall age. College towns are among the youngest of all. East Lansing's was 21.7 years.