New York, California and several other Democratic states lost the most residents in 2023, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The bureau's report, released earlier this week, said eight states—all but one of them run by Democratic governors—recorded a fall in their population this year.
New York lost the most residents—101,984—followed by California with 75,423, according to Vintage 2023 population estimates.
Illinois had 32,826 residents leave, Louisiana lost 14,274, and Pennsylvania lost 10,408. Three other states saw smaller population declines: Oregon lost 6,021 people, Hawaii lost 4,261, and West Virginia—the only one of the eight states with a Republican governor—lost 3,964 people.
Collectively, these states had a population loss of 249,161 in 2023, down from 509,789 last year. Many of these states have lost population annually since 2020, but their population declines have slowed, the census bureau reported.
Four of the states that lost the most residents also ranked in the top 10 of the most populous in the nation. As of July 1, 2023, California had the largest population, with close to 39 million residents, followed by Texas with 30.5 million residents, and Florida with 22.6 million. New York was fourth with 19.5 million residents, followed by Pennsylvania with close to 13 million and Illinois with approximately 12.5 million residents.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, said New Yorkers were fleeing the state due to the state's "Far Left Democrat leadership."
"Far Left Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats have made New York so unlivable that our state leads the nation in population loss with more than 102,000 residents leaving in one year alone," Stefanik said in a statement.
"With record crime and cost of living far beyond the national average, New York's mass exodus is far from over. If Far Left Democrats in Albany don't start putting the safety and prosperity of New Yorkers before their extremist agenda, there will be no more residents left to tax and fund their radical, socialist programs." Newsweek has contacted Hochul's office for comment via email.
Neighboring state New Jersey, which has a Democratic governor, recorded a population rise of 30,024 in 2023, after losing residents the previous year.
The census bureau's report also reported that four southern states—three of them run by Republican governors—accounted for a majority of the nation's population growth in 2023. Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia accounted for 67 percent of the nation's population growth in 2023, down from 93 percent in 2022.
Texas saw the biggest numeric change in the country, adding 473,453 people, followed by Florida, which added 365,205 residents.
South Carolina, another Republican state, saw the biggest percentage growth (1.7 percent) in population in 2023, followed by Florida, Texas, Idaho and North Carolina.
"U.S. migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and a drop in deaths are driving the nation's growth," Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau, said in a statement.
"Although births declined, this was tempered by the near 9% decrease in deaths. Ultimately, fewer deaths paired with rebounding immigration resulted in the nation experiencing its largest population gain since 2018."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
