The U.S. population grew by 0.4% in 2022 thanks to migration and “the largest year-over-year increase in total births since 2007.
Florida is the fastest-growing state, taking the top spot for the first time since 1957.
The Sunshine State’s population grew by 1.9% between 2021 and 2022. It sits at 22,244,823.
Florida has gained population yearly since 1946, but nothing tops the 8% in 1956 and 1957. That’s when air conditioning became regular, allowing people to move to hotter climates.
But the south overall received a huge population boost in the last year. The West also gained more people, but mostly in the red states. Except Washington. Washington state is on the list, which surprised me:
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.
Eighteen states lost population. Is anyone shocked the top three states are New York, California, and Illinois? Yeah, me either:
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.—Eighteen states experienced a population decline in 2022, compared to 15 and DC the prior year. California, with a population of 39,029,342, and Illinois, with a population of 12,582,032, also had six-figure decreases in resident population. Both states’ declining populations were largely due to net domestic outmigration, totaling 343,230 and 141,656, respectively.
FLASHBACK!
Remember when California Gov. Gavin Newsom released an ad in Florida, claiming Gov. Ron DeSantis is attacking their freedom and basically going all 1984 on them? He actually claimed that California is the beacon of freedom.
The lack of self-awareness is mind-blowing from this…dude. I’m biting my tongue.
Priceless. People in California and Florida did not approve. Even lawmakers in Newsom’s party were like, “Yeah, man, let’s not go after other states. Not cool.”
DeSantis responded, mixing in the population growth with the many other reasons why Florida is better than California:
In his speech, DeSantis noted recent population shifts favoring Florida while many Californians left the state, went after Newsom on his COVID-19 policies and not following the same guidelines as other Californians during the pandemic, criticized high-crime rates in many parts of the state, and reversed what Newsom said in his ad and called Florida a ‘citadel of freedom’ compared to the Golden State.“Everyone wants to talk about me in Florida,” said Governor DeSantis on Friday. “I mean, like I’m just sitting here like little old me doing my job. I can just tell you this. I was born and raised in this state. And until the last few years, I rarely, if ever, saw a California license plate in the state of Florida. You now see a lot of them. I can tell you. If you go to California, you ain’t seeing very many Florida license plates.“We would never allow what’s happened in places like San Francisco and L.A., where these areas have been destroyed with drugs and crime and the homeless to happen. We take those that seriously, and we believe when people commit crimes, they belong behind bars, not released back onto the street.”“When families are uprooting from the Pacific coast to go almost 3,000 miles in search of a better life, that’s telling you something. Yes, we’ve created a citadel of freedom here that has attracted people, and we’re proud of it. But let’s just be clear, California is driving people away with their terrible governance.”
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