Pennsylvania is one of only a few states in the U.S. that has a shrinking overall population.
However, a handful of counties in the Buckeye State have seen their population boom in recent years.
Ohio is the seventh most populous U.S. state, with a 2023 population of 11,785,935, according to U.S. Census data. This is an increase from 11,759,697 in 2022 and 11,765,227 in 2021, but still lower than the 11,798,292 population seen in 2020.
However, some counties in the state are increasing sharply in population, while others are declining.
The county with the greatest increase in population between 2020 and 2023 is Union County, with a 10.4 percent increase from 63,085 to 69,637.
The data shows that the nine other fastest-growing Ohio counties between 2020 and 2023 were:
- Delaware County—7.7 percent increase in population
- Pickaway County—4.1 percent
- Fairfield County—3.7 percent
- Warren County—3.7 percent
- Licking County—2.5 percent
- Morrow County—1.8 percent
- Miami County—1.8 percent
- Madison County—1.7 percent
- Noble County—1.6 percent
On the other hand, the following ten counties saw the largest declines in population during the same period:
- Lawrence County—3.5 percent decrease in population
- Vinton County—2.6 percent
- Scioto County—2.5 percent
- Cuyahoga County—2.3 percent
- Harrison County—2.3 percent
- Belmont County—2.1 percent
- Wyandot County—1.9 percent
- Erie County—1.9 percent
- Washington County—1.8 percent
- Meigs County—1.8 percent
The majority of counties that are gaining in population are in the center and south of Ohio while the ones shrinking are mostly to the east and northwest.
U.S. Census data shows that only eight states have populations that have shrunk since 2020: New York, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The decline in Ohio's population, as well as that of New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, may be part of the general trend of migration to more southern states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"Most of the growth or decline in all the states is due to domestic migration, people moving from/to other states. Some states grew, others declined, for many of the same reasons," Dudley Poston, an emeritus professor of sociology at Texas A&M University, previously told Newsweek.
"Here are the main reasons people move: People move from one state to another for jobs, lower cost of housing, lower state taxes, better levels of living. Here Texas and Florida have all the benefits, and California and New York don't."
Texas is the fastest-growing state in the country, increasing in population by 1.2 million people between 2020 and 2023.
"I expect Texas will continue to grow, from just over 30 million today, and maybe reach 45, maybe even 50 million by the year 2050," Poston said.
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