ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - New York state continues to lose population in new census numbers along with several other states.
The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration. That’s according to figures released earlier this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
New York was among 10 states that had population declines in the past year. It lost nearly 77,000 people compared to the prior year. That was more than any other state. And overall, the Northeast had a population decrease for the first time this decade.
Erika Rosenberg is president and CEO of the Rochester-based think tank, the Center for Governmental Research. She says the numbers follow along with census figures from recent years.
“It’s the continuation of a very long-term trend, we’ve seen it for, I think, at least the last couple of decades with New York and much of the rest of the northeast generally not growing, or even losing a little bit of population,” Rosenberg says.
She says besides demographic and immigration factors, other issues may be responsible for the declining population in New York.
“And then that movement across states certainly has, I think most people believe, and I do, a lot to do with climate and economy and people moving for opportunities and moving to places where they think would enjoy living. So, New York benefits from that, we certainly draw people into the state, we draw people into Rochester, but not at the rates that other places do,” Rosenberg says.
The Southern U.S. saw the largest growth in population between 2018 and 2019.