To find next year's population after a decrease of 4%, we can calculate it using the formula for percentage decrease:
\[ \text{New Population} = \text{Current Population} \times (1 - \text{Rate of Decrease}) \]
In this case, the current population is 291,000 and the rate of decrease is 4%, which can be expressed as 0.04. So, we can calculate:
\[ \text{New Population} = 291,000 \times (1 - 0.04) \]
Calculating \(1 - 0.04\):
\[ 1 - 0.04 = 0.96 \]
Now, substituting this into the equation:
\[ \text{New Population} = 291,000 \times 0.96 \]
Now perform the multiplication:
\[ \text{New Population} = 279,360 \]
To find the population to the nearest individual:
\[ \text{Next year's population} \approx 279,360 \]
Thus, the population of the city next year will be approximately 279,360 individuals.