Michael Barone writes for the Washington Examiner. His topic today is what the year-end numbers just out from the Census Bureau tell us about internal population shifts in the U.S.
Barone compares the 2023 year-end numbers with the last decennial Census dated 1 April 2020. He notes we are now - 39 months later - essentially 1/3 of the way to the next formal census. He observes three overarching trends in the numbers.
1. "The three largest metropolitan areas had the largest population losses in percentages and absolute numbers." NY, CA, IL were big losers.
2. "The South accounted for almost all the nation's population gains - and more." TX, FL were big winners.
3. "The Pacific Rim is shrinking." CA, OR, HI all lost population, AK was flat, and WA gained modestly.
Why does Barone think these shifts are happening?
The picture you get is people fleeing COVID restrictions, empty offices, and high taxes needed to support lavish public pensions. Expensive and dysfunctional government is a hard sell.
The Southern states’ lower taxes, lighter regulation, and lesser imposition of “woke” policies have helped it attract internal migrants and encourage family formation.
I'd add: People are nicer to each other in flyover country, the "feels" are less negative.
