More Americans are moving to the West, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Half of the fastest-growing states are all in the western part of the U.S.—however, Texas and Florida did nab the number one and two spots on the Census Bureau’s list for receiving the most new residents over the past year.
But the West is definitely gaining ground. Nevada and Idaho’s populations grew by 2.1 percent between July 2017 and July 2018. Other Western states, like Utah, Arizona, and Washington, all saw their populations grow by 1.5 percent or more during that period.
Texas saw 379,128 new residents over the past year, followed by Florida with an increase of 322,513 new residents. California hit third with 157,696, and Arizona got fourth with 122,720.
Overall, the most populated state is California with more than 39.5 million residents. Texas ranked second, but with 10 million less. On the other hand, the least populated state is Wyoming with 577,737 residents.
The state that lost the most residents over the past year is New York, whose population fell by 47,510 over the past year. Other states that saw population declines in the past year were Illinois, West Virginia, Louisiana, Hawaii, Mississippi, Alaska, Connecticut, and Wyoming.
The U.S. population rose by 0.6 percent over the last year and is now at about 327 million.
Source: “How Does Your State Stack Up?” U.S. Census Bureau (Dec. 19, 2018) and “Go West: Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington Top List of Fastest-Growing States,” USA Today (Dec. 19, 2018)
