A U.S. Census Bureau estimate released this week declared New York lost more residents than any other state this year, having lost around 319,020 or 1.6 percent of its population. New York has also fallen behind most states in population growth in previous years.
While New York had the largest overall population decline, it came in second behind California for the most amount of residents moving out of the state. Census Bureau figures show there were 113,776 fewer people in Illinois in July of 2021 than in July of 2020.
“Taking into account the number of births in the state during that time and those who moved to Illinois during that time, it is estimated that more than 122,000 Illinoisans left the state.” Massachusetts came in fourth place for residents leaving.
Who received those who left the liberal blue states? Red states, of course. Texas and Florida gained the most amount of people. Texas gained roughly 310,000, a number very close to how many people New York lost.
Florida came in second with a gain of around 211,000, also similar to the 261,000 number California lost. Arizona, a predominantly red state which voted in favor of Biden in the last presidential election despite multiple election fraudulent accusations, came in third. Arizona gained roughly 98,000 individuals.
The Census Bureau also estimates that the U.S. saw the slowest one-year population growth ever, at 0.1 percent. “Population growth has been slowing for years because of lower birth rates and decreasing net international migration, all while mortality rates are rising due to the aging of the nation’s population,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau, according to the report. “Now, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this combination has resulted in a historically slow pace of growth.”
Another political aspect of the Bureau’s estimations are congressional seats. Prior to his being ousted from office, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state would explore legal options after losing one of its congressional seats due to population shifts recorded in the 2020 census.
Cuomo claimed at the time that the total count may have been off and accused the Trump administration of making illegal immigrants “nervous to come forward” during the counting process.