Just Some Census Stats
Yes, the South is increasing in population according to these Census numbers. There appears to be a reversal in or new growth in the Midwest and the Northeast. The growth is not as great. Texas appears to be growing faster than other parts of the country.
I believe the limiting factor is going to be water, the same as it will be in Arizona. Unless there is continuous rainfall, both areas will be growth restrictive. I am going to tie to this in later posts.
Population Rebounds for Many Cities in Northeast and Midwest, Census.gov
South Continues to Lead the Way With Largest and Fastest Growth
MAY 16, 2024 — Large cities in the Northeast and Midwest grew in 2023, reversing earlier population declines, according to Vintage 2023 Population Estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Cities with populations of 50,000 or more grew by an average of 0.2% in the Northeast and 0.1% in the Midwest after declining an average of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2022. Those in the West went up by an average of 0.2% from 2022 to 2023. Cities in the South grew the fastest – by an average 1.0%.
Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division; “The population growth across the South in 2023 was driven by significant numeric and percentage gains among its cities. Thirteen of the 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South, with eight in Texas alone.”
Topping the list of fastest-growing cities with a population of 20,000 or more was Celina, Texas, (near Dallas). Its population grew by 26.6% or more than 53 times than the nation’s growth rate of 0.5%.
San Antonio, Texas, added more people (roughly 22,000) than any other city in 2023, reclaiming its No. 1 spot on the list of gainers and pushing it close to the 1.5 million population milestone.
Amid these notable examples of growth in the South, other fast-growing cities saw their rates of population change slow. For example, population growth in Georgetown, Texas, slowed by more than one-fourth its population growth in 2022, from 14.4% to 10.6%. The same can be said for Kyle, Texas, whose population growth decreased by nearly 2.0% to 9.0% in 2023. AB: Still, this is significant growth as indicated by percentage.
Population Change in Small Towns and Regional Differences
While 39% of the country’s population lived in cities of 50,000 or more, the United States remained a nation of mostly smaller communities. Of approximately 19,500 incorporated places, about 75% had fewer than 5,000 people in 2023 and nearly 33% had fewer than 500.
On average, these small towns experienced uneven population change across the U.S. regions. In particular, small towns in the Midwest and Northeast experienced lower rates of decline in 2023, decreasing by an average of 0.3% and 0.1%, as compared to 0.4% and 0.2% in 2022.
Small towns in the West grew on average by 0.3% in 2023, a slower pace than its 0.5% growth rate in 2022. In contrast, small towns in the South grew by an average 0.6% in 2023, one-and-a-half times faster than the 0.4% growth in 2022.
Most Populous Cities
The 15 largest cities in 2023 remained the same as in 2022, with a few rank changes – Jacksonville, Florida, surpassed Austin, Texas, while Fort Worth, Texas, surpassed San Jose, California.
New York, New York, remained the nation’s largest city as of July 1, 2023, with almost 8.3 million people, followed by Los Angeles, California, which reached nearly 4 million people.
Other most populous cities in 2023 were:
- Chicago, Illinois (2.7 million).
- Houston, Texas (2.3 million).
- Phoenix, Arizona (1.7 million).
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.6 million).
- San Antonio (1.5 million).
- San Diego, California (1.4 million).
- Dallas (1.3 million).
- Jacksonville, Florida (986,000).
- Austin (980,000).
- Fort Worth, Texas (978,000).
- San Jose (970,000).
- Columbus, Ohio (913,000).
- Charlotte, North Carolina (911,000).
Discover population changes in large cities and minor civil divisions with “How Is Population Shifting in Your State?”.
Other Highlights
Crossing population milestones:
- Four cities crossed the 100,000-population mark in 2023:
- Yuma, Arizona (100,858).
- Fayetteville, Arkansas (101,680).
- Palm Coast, Florida (102,113).
- Suffolk, Virginia (100,659).
- Five places joined the list of cities with populations of 50,000 or more in 2023:
- Prescott Valley, Arizona (50,045).
- Everett, Massachusetts (50,318).
- Gallatin, Tennessee (50,355).
- Saratoga Springs, Utah (52,532).
- Bothell, Washington (50,213).
- Twenty-one places in 11 states crossed the 20,000-population threshold in 2023.
Modest Housing Unit Growth in Nearly All States
The nation’s housing stock grew by about 1.6 million units between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, reaching a total of 145.3 million. The 1.1% increase was nearly the same as the 1.2% increase between 2021 and 2022.
- California had the largest number of housing units (14.8 million), followed by Texas (12.4 million) and Florida (10.5 million), while Wyoming (280,000) and Alaska (330,000) had the fewest housing units.
- Utah experienced the nation’s fastest growth in housing units, with an increase of 2.5% between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, followed by Idaho (2.3%) and South Dakota (2.2%).
- Alaska (0.1%), Rhode Island (0.2%) and Illinois (0.2%) had the slowest rates of housing growth.
- The largest numeric gains in housing units between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023:
- Harris County, Texas (36,000).
- Maricopa County, Arizona (36,000).
- Los Angeles County, California (29,000).
- Travis County, Texas (24,000).
- Collin County, Texas (18,000).
- Falls Church, Virginia, was the fastest-growing county; its housing stock increased by 13.5% between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, followed by Rich County, Utah (8.5%), and Jasper County, South Carolina (7.1%). Wasatch County, Utah, and Billings County, North Dakota, were tied for fourth place with 6.1%.
- Sharkey County, Mississippi, had the largest percentage decrease in housing units between 2022 and 2023 at 10.0%, followed by Breathitt County, Kentucky, at 1.9% and Cross County, Arkansas, with 1.4%.
The complete list of counties is available in “A Snapshot of the Nation’s Housing Stock“.
Interesting how much growth is in FL and TX, two states that will bear the brunt of global warming in the next 20 years.
Population in the south is rising only because it’s one of the few parts of the US that haven’t effectively banned new housing construction. Even for the climate alone, no one in their right mind would live in Texas if they had a choice. nfortunately, anti-construction rentierism by property holders in the rest of the US leaves too many people with no choice, cultural incompatibilities, climate, and water availability be damned
My son is framing out nine houses a year, the outfit he’s working for has a dozen crews, jobs are scheduled a year and more out. No one is effectively banning new housing construction
“If I owned Texas and all Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.”
~Gen. Philip Sheridan
Joel:
Just read on another site (which will go unnamed) an article saying masks work.
“When a Texan farm worker caught bird flu from cattle recently, social media was abuzz with rumours. While bird flu is not a human pandemic, scientists and policymakers the world over are keen to prepare as best they can for when such a pandemic emerges – a tricky task, given that science is messy, policy must be pragmatic and people’s values don’t always align.
It’s time for masks to enter the chat. At the beginning of a pandemic caused by a novel or newly mutated virus, there may be no vaccine, no firm knowledge about how bad things will get and no specific treatment. Slowing transmission until more is known will be critical.
Getting most people to wear a mask could nip the outbreak in the bud, preventing a pandemic or lessening its impact. Wearing a mask is inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as lockdowns.”
I am in shock . . . it has been proven that masks work even if of a lesser material. Who would have thought? (not ridiculing the other author either).
Spouse is on the count-down for another major surgery in five days and I’ve been masking in all public places for a month, masked to get a booster today, though we’ve been pretty attentive to them all along
This bird-flu is weird, and with reports of it in the wilds of New York City it’s getting closer. Not sure how it would impact, or transmit to us as we consume no red-meat or dairy or have no contact with either livestock or wildlife. I’ve noticed an increase in masking but that could be skewed by the sizable Asian population. Being from Way Out West, I worry about mad cows
Ten Bears:
Best to protect her by doing so. Good luck on the surgery. Keep us posted Ten Bears.
@Bill,
If you are coughing or sneezing, cloth masks will protect others from your infection. A fitted N95 mask can protect you from aerosolized virus.
Joel:
Good info for everyone.
I helicoptered across it one time. Took forever …
General Sheridan also said, “The only good Indian I ever saw was dead.”
@Lj,
“Sheridan, who was a prime mover in the creation of Yellowstone National Park, seemed more sympathetic to Native Americans after his Western campaigns.
“It would have been better if the Indians had been considered as part of the population of the United States, and dealt with generously,” Sheridan wrote in an annual report to his superior officer, General Sherman. “We took away their country, and their means of support, broke up their mode of living, their habits of life, introduced disease and decay among them, and it was for this and against this that they made war. Could anyone expect less?”
Rumors abound: who was Philip Sheridan?
Too bad he said that after he destroyed them.
@Lj,
Indeed. But at least he acknowledged his error. Custer died for his (Sheridan’s *and* Custer’s) sins.