New Census Numbers Reveal Surprising Changes About American Life
We already knew that major geographic shifts were occurring within the United States, and last week the U.S. Census Bureau confirmed it.
“While the nation’s fastest-growing cities continue to be in Sun Belt states, new population estimates show that some of the top gainers are now on the outskirts of metropolitan areas or in rural areas,” the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The Sun Belt is a region that stretches from the southeastern United States all the way to southern California.
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The U.S. Census Bureau data came from population estimates for towns and cities from last July.
“Many large cities with populations of 50,000 or more saw notable population declines over the course of the pandemic. Although their losses have slowed to pre-pandemic levels, their populations continued to decrease in 2023,” the U.S. Census Bureau said.
“The estimates also show that, on average, many small and midsize U.S. cities with populations under 50,000 saw relatively higher growth rates in 2023 than in 2019 before the pandemic hit while large cities generally grew at slower rates.”
Among the findings:
• Baltimore, ranked second among the largest-declining cities in 2019 and cut its population decline in half in 2023. San Jose, Calif. and Jackson, Miss. also dropped in rank as their population losses slowed by more than 60% and 30%, respectively.
• The nation’s largest city, New York, saw its population continue to decline from a drop of 0.6% in 2019 to 3.5% in 2021. By 2023, the decline had moderated to a 0.9% change — closer to pre-COVID-19 trends.
• The population growth in two of the largest cities in the Sun Belt, Houston and Phoenix, slowed during the pandemic. Houston even saw its 0.1% growth in 2019 shift to a 0.5% decline in 2021 before its population began to climb again. In 2023, Houston grew 0.5% faster than in 2019.
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“Multiple factors are likely behind the increased growth of exurbs,” the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
“Among them: Rising housing costs after the start of the pandemic, which drove some people farther away from cities toward exurbs in search of cheaper homes. Greater opportunities to work from home also likely contributed. Before the pandemic, telework and remote work options were much less common.”
As RVIVR reported in 2022, Florida, after decades of rapid population increases, is now the nation’s fastest growing state.
As for Jackson, Miss., that city suffers from poorly-maintained roads, dead shopping centers, massively high crime, and socialist politics.
Special thanks to Warhammer’s Wife proofreading this story before publication to make certain there were no misspellings, grammatical errors or other embarrassing mistakes and/or typos. Follow Warhammer on Twitter @Real_Warhammer. Also follow Warhammer on TruthSocial at @Real_Warhammer
