New York City’s population struggles have been previously documented, but what about cities that are hosts to the opposite phenomenon? According to US Census Data, there are plenty of urban areas across the country that saw some massive gains recently.
Take Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix. It was the largest-gaining county in the country according to the Census Bureau, having added 56,831 residents in 2022. Of those, domestic migration made the biggest contribution to the county’s growth.
Or Harris County, Texas, which contains Houston. It was home to the second-largest increase with more than 45,626 residents added. This time, international migration and more births than deaths were key factors. Speaking of the Lone Star State, the Census Bureau said that half of the top ten fastest-growing counties were in Texas. The others were in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
What’s going on here? There’s the simple fact that these states are all close to the equator and have warmer weather than most states above the Mason Dixon line, but that is more of a truism than a truth.
Instead, try examining these migrations through a political lens. All of the states above are Republican-leaning or at the very least swing states (Arizona and Georgia). A massive migration to red states has been a documented phenomenon for a few years now, after all. A lot of these states are low-tax, and Texas and Florida have no income tax at all. They are positioning themselves as being more profitable for business.
Look at some of the states that suffered the most like California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts: they lost just under a million residents combined and they all have Democratic governors and they were all relatively strict with COVID-19.
Conservative states are having a moment, whether for their taxing policies or other factors, and have been for a bit. Is that because of their politics? It’s hard to say, as correlation does not mean causation. But there is a pattern worth mentioning, and it was reinforced in 2023.
