Last Census Estimate For Decade Shows Major Migration Slowdown

The Census Bureau released its last estimates before the official 2010 count begins. They have a bearing on the Congressional reapportionment - good news for Texas, while 'less bad than expected' for the Northeast and Midwest, thanks to a recession.

1 minute read

December 28, 2009, 8:00 AM PST

By Irvin Dawid


Texas growth was phenomenal - adding up to more than "Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Nevada, combined." Another sunbelt and southwest states should remarkable slowdown, such as Nevada and Florida, largely due to a drop in domestic and foreign migration, compared to earlier in the decade.

"...in a sign of the recession's power to reshape established demographic trends, the new census figures show that growth has slowed substantially in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, while in Florida, Nevada and California, more Americans moved out than in.

As a corollary, the new data show that several states in the Northeast - like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts - are holding on to more residents."

From U.S. Census press release:

"Texas gained more people than any other state between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009 (478,000), followed by California (381,000), North Carolina (134,000), Georgia (131,000) and Florida (114,000), according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates"

From Brookings:

* "In 2007-2008, the overall U.S. migration rate reached its lowest point since World War II"

* "Migration to exurban and newer suburban counties dropped substantially, while it brought about unexpected "windfall" gains in many large urban cores."

Thursday, December 24, 2009 in The New York Times - U.S.

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