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Three ‘sanctuary’ states see population decline in 2023 even with migrant offsets

December 26, 2023 | | Print Article

It seems the current immigration crisis facing the nation is being felt in population booms and losses that appear in the latest Census Bureau numbers.

With the out-of-control migrant situation at the southern border, it’s no surprise that states along the area have seen a huge uptick in population. Concurrently, Democrat-run states are seeing declines as their residents are packing up and leaving due to high taxes and cost of living as well as increased crime.

“The nation gained more than 1.6 million people this past year, growing by 0.5% to 334,914,895. More states experienced population growth in 2023 than in any year since the start of the pandemic,” the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week.

“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, noted in the report. “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.”

The boom in population seemed concentrated in southern states such as Texas and Florida which “accounted for 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023, as the region added over 1.4 million residents.”

“The growth in 2023 can largely be attributed to the region’s migration patterns as 706,266 people were added via net domestic migration, while net international migration contributed almost 500,000 to the total,” the report explained.

(Image: Census.gov)

Between July 2022 and July 2023, Texas became home to nearly half a million new residents while states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee saw an influx of residents who were fleeing liberal locations. This was as population declines were seen in eight states including New York, California and Illinois.

In California, 338,371 residents fled to other states, and New York saw a loss of 216,778 residents while Illinois lost 83,839. The losses would be staggering but appear to have been offset by the dramatic number of migrants who moved into the region by the thousands.

“The Northeast’s population declined in 2023, down 43,330, but the loss was considerably smaller than the 216,576 decline in 2022 or the 187,054 decline in 2021, reflecting substantially less outmigration to other regions,” the report noted.

“In 2023, more states gained population than has been seen since the start of the pandemic,” it continued. “The increasing number of states with population growth reflects both the broad national trends of deaths and net international migration returning to pre-COVID levels as well as reduced net domestic outmigration for some of the states.”

“South Carolina’s 1.7% growth rate topped all other states, and its population rose by more than 90,000 residents. More than 90% of the growth came from domestic migration, or people moving from another U.S. state to South Carolina,” KNSD reported.

“Of the 50 states, New York had the biggest rate of population decline, losing 0.5%. It also recorded the largest decline in pure numbers, with a drop of almost 102,000 residents,” the outlet continued. “The almost 74,000 international arrivals and the state’s natural increase of more than 41,000 residents couldn’t offset the almost 217,000 New Yorkers who departed the state from mid-2022 to mid-2023.”

Frieda Powers
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