WHY SOME AMERICAN CITIES AND STATES ARE DEPOPULATING
Newsweek reported in 2023, that the populations of traditionally Republican states have grown, while several Democrat states had seen declines, U.S. Census Bureau data shows.
Many of those leaving cited law and order, politics, and the cost of living as factors, with California especially suffering from high taxes, crime and homelessness.
The report continued with: “Americans are on the move, and increasingly they’re choosing red states to build their lives. That was one of the key findings of U.S. Census Bureau data released in December of 2023.”
The main reasons given for the movement, people told Newsweek, were politics, the cost of living, taxation – and crime.
Democrat states saw population decline: California declined by 0.3 percent, New York by .09 percent, Illinois by .08 percent and Oregon by .04 percent. Within California the ultra-progressive San Francisco and Lassen counties experienced a decline of 7.1 percent and 7.5 percent respectively between 2020 and 2022.
A Gallop poll in October 2022, found 56 percent of Americans think crime has increased in their areas, with 78 percent believing it has risen nationwide.
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A study by Azurite Consulting, a data research firm, found that 54% of companies in major downtown areas, like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco were considering or planning to move out of the city.
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Scientific American reporter, Rachel Numer, published an article dated, January 11, 2024, entitled, “Thousands of U.S. Cities Could Become Virtual Ghost Towns by 2100.”
Numer stated that “These projected findings about depopulation in U.S. cities are shaped by a multitude of factors, including the decline of industry, lower birth rates and the impacts of climate change. Regionally, the Northeast and Midwest will most likely be the most heavily affected by depopulation. In general, the places that are projected to likely gain population by 2100 tend to be in the South and West.”
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California
The Hoover Institution published an analysis in 2022 on the departure of companies from California:
2021 – 153
2020 – 75
2021 – 78
2020 – 46
Where did they go? Primarily, Texas.
Of the 85 companies leaving California between 2020 – April 2023 with more than 100 employees – 44 of them went to Texas.
New York
Rocio Fabbro, reported in The Messenger, “Wall Street Firms Are Leaving New York, Taking $1 Trillion With Them.”
New York has lost almost $1 trillion as asset management companies head to the Sun Belt.
Between early 2020 and 2023, 158 companies that manage $993 billion in assets moved their headquarters out of New York, according to data complied by Bloomberg. Texas and Florida have received an influx of companies leaving California and New York – and the economic boom that comes with it. Florida welcomed 104 companies, 56 of them from New York.
The exodus from California and New York will no doubt put a strain on those states’ economies, per Bloomberg’s report, with thousands of high-salaried jobs gone, lost tax revenue and empty office buildings. Companies are attracted to the Sun Belt by warmer weather and lower cost of living and taxes.
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Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal, “For myself, yes, I have moved to Texas.” He continued, “We’ve got the Starship development here in South Texas where I am right now. We’ve got big factory developments just outside of Austin for Giga Texas as well.”
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With the long list of high-tech and Wall Street firms fleeing California and New York for other states, the economic and political demographics will dramatically change both states, and the states welcoming their new residents.
What has yet to be calculated in the analysis of the population changes in America, is the effect of millions of illegal migrants and “got-a-ways” who have been disappearing into the interior of the country, unvetted and unaccounted for. The consequences could be tragic for future generations of Americans.
James Peifer
