2017 Census population estimates reveals a trend that the mainstream media prefers to ignore, write Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox in City Journal. While many reports focus on historically high populations in large U.S. metros, few spotlight significant rates of domestic outmigration. Kotkin and Cox note:
The highest-percentage declines were found in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and, remarkably, tech-heavy San Jose, which ranked worst among 53 metropolitan areas with populations above 1 million. Last year, the San Francisco Bay Area’s seven metros experienced outmigration more than ten times higher than the annual average since 2010.
Meanwhile, affordable midsize metros like Austin, Texas; Charlotte, N.C.; and Orlando, Fla. and Midwestern cities like Des Moines, Iowa; Columbus, Ohio.; and Indianapolis, Ind. lead in population growth, Kotkin and Cox note. The 2017 data show core counties lost almost 440,000 net domestic migrants while suburban counties gained over 250,000.
Millennials entering their 30s and baby boomers headed to the Sun Belt and other retiree hotspots are driving this trend, according to Kotkin and Cox, as well as job growth in energy and manufacturing markets across the South, Midwest, and intermountain West.
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