California and New York each lost more than half a million residents between 2020 and 2022, according to population estimates issued last week by the Census Bureau. New York’s population declined by 2.1 percent and California’s by 1.2 percent.
Other big losers were Illinois, which lost 1.6 percent, and Louisiana, which lost 1.3 percent. Populations also declined in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon, all of which have expensive housing markets. But populations declined in West Virginia, Mississippi, Michigan, Ohio, and New Mexico, which generally have affordable housing markets.
Thirty-one states gained population, with the fastest overall growth being Idaho at 4.9 percent. Montana grew by 3.3 percent and Florida by just over 3.0 percent.
These dramatic changes are unusual for just a two-year period. But they are also made more obvious by the that the nation’s overall population grew by only 0.5 percent over those two years. This may be the slowest overall population growth since the nation began, and such slow growth makes state changes more visible. In previous years, high immigration and birth rates generally covered up domestic migration from state to state.
Increases in the number of people working at home allowed more people to move from states they didn’t like to ones they do. This explains why West Virginia and Mississippi lost population despite affordable housing: the states just aren’t popular as tourist or retirement destinations, so they also don’t appear to be popular with telecommuters. I still find the decline in New Mexico, one of my two or three favorite states, to be perplexing, but apparently others don’t share my preferences.
NO YOU STAY IN THE STATES You FUKED UP. You voted for it, now deal with it.
So if a vote is 60 40 in favor of a bad politician and or measure, can the 40% move away?
Shouldn’t the graphic show:
NY: >-2%
Since the number is negative.
“Yellow” NM is striking. Yeah, it’s got a lot of great living conditions but it also has really high crime compared to its bordering states.
What’s the Matter with Kansas? Low housing prices, low crime, not awful weather, and taxes in line with the surrounding states. What’s the deal?
As someone who goes through and visits WV frequently I would strenuously disagree that no one wants to visit the state. It’s a lovely state with beautiful state parks and charming towns and cities. It however is a state that was used by industry as an extractive location. People used the state and sent the
money elsewhere…it has its struggles on many fronts, but still has hard-working, friendly folks.
CapitalistRoader,
No, -2.1 is less than -2.0, so <2.0 is the correct symbol.
Urbanist81,
I didn’t say no one wants to visit WV. I said it is less popular a tourist destination than many other states. I’d like to visit the Monongahela Forest sometime, but I’m not too interested in coal mines or industrial cities.