The U.S. population is increasing, but Pennsylvania continues to be a state many people prefer to leave.
According to new Census Bureau estimates, Pennsylvania is one of 18 states that saw a population loss in 2022 and one of the biggest losers of population in the country when compared with other states.
The drop in population is part of a persistent pattern in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s loss of 40,000 residents represents a 0.3 percent decrease from the previous year and was the fourth-largest drop among all states. New York, California and Illinois were the three states that experienced even greater population losses last year.
As of July 1, Pennsylvania had 12,972,008 people living in it, which makes it the fifth largest state in terms of population according to the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau earlier this year provided population change statistics for U.S. metro areas for the period from April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021, but the new data only measured population change at the state level. For example, the Philadelphia metro area saw a 0.3 percent reduction in population, which translated to the loss of 16,000 residents, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Some of the problems with Pennsylvania’s shrinking population mirror regional patterns.
The Midwest and the Northeast are experiencing population loss, while the South and the West–areas that are often considered part of the nation’s Sun Belt–have seen growth.
The population of neighboring New Jersey decreased by 6,252 people, or 0.1 percent.
Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia saw the biggest influx of new residents, according to the Census Bureau.
According to the most recent Census Bureau data, more than one million immigrants have entered the country since last year, contributing to the 1.26 million (0.4 percent) increase in the country’s population.
“There was a sizable uptick in population growth last year compared to the prior year’s historically low increase,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau. “A rebound in net international migration, coupled with the largest year-over-year increase in total births since 2007, is behind this increase.”
