New York saw the greatest population decline in the U.S., according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The state lost 180,341 people or roughly 1% of its population. Florida and Texas saw the greatest population increase.
Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9%, resulting in a total resident population of 22,244,823. Meanwhile, Texas joins California as the only states with a resident population above 30 million.
Justin Wilcox, who’s the executive director of Upstate United called it a crisis.
“Over the last two years, New York’s population has declined by approximately 500,000. The continuation of the Empire State Exodus is a crisis that demands immediate attention and action,” he said. “This troubling trend will continue until Governor Hochul and legislative leaders enact meaningful tax relief and pro-growth reforms. We need to get our economy moving – not our people.”
Net international migration — the number of people moving in and out of the country — added 1,010,923 people between 2021 and 2022 and was the primary driver of growth. This represents 168.8% growth over 2021 totals of 376,029 – an indication that migration patterns are returning to pre-pandemic levels. Positive natural change (births minus deaths) increased the population by 245,080.
“There was a sizable uptick in population growth last year compared to the prior year’s historically low increase,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau. “A rebound in net international migration, coupled with the largest year-over-year increase in total births since 2007, is behind this increase.”
The South, the most populous region with a resident population of 128,716,192, was the fastest-growing and the largest-gaining region last year, increasing by 1.1%, or 1,370,163. Positive net domestic migration (867,935) and net international migration (414,740) were the components with the largest contributions to this growth, adding a combined 1,282,675 residents.
The West was the only other region to experience growth in 2022, having gained 153,601 residents — an annual increase of 0.2% for a total resident population of 78,743,364 — despite losing 233,150 residents via net domestic migration (the difference between residents moving in and out of an area). Natural increase (154,405) largely accounted for the growth in the West.
The Northeast, with a population of 57,040,406, and the Midwest, with a population of 68,787,595, lost 218,851 (-0.4%) and 48,910 (-0.1%) residents, respectively. The declines in these regions were due to negative net domestic migration.
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