Demographics
Births decline in most states, continuing a long-term trend
Fast-growing Texas and Florida had the biggest increases in the number of births last year, while a dozen other states — half of them in the South — continued to rebound from pandemic lows. In the United States as a whole, however, the number of births has plateaued after a modest increase following the worst […]
A few cities are regaining residents after shrinking during the pandemic
The vast majority of American cities are shrinking, but new data shows that a few are regaining residents after population declines early in the pandemic — bolstered, perhaps, by the rapid construction of new homes. Seattle, Houston, Atlanta and Tucson, Arizona, are among the cities that lost population between 2020 and 2021 but now have more people […]
Cities shrink but immigrants help stem population losses
Continuing a pandemic trend, Americans are moving to the South and Southwest and from cities to the suburbs in search of more space and homes they can afford, recent government data indicates. But immigration, which is starting to bounce back from pandemic lows, has helped mitigate population loss in major cities. A Stateline analysis of […]
Urban Areas Are Adding People and Gobbling Up Land in Most States
The percentage of residents living in areas the U.S. Census Bureau calls “urban” grew in 36 states between 2010 and 2020, led by booming cities and suburbs in the South, Southwest, Midwest and California, according to a new Stateline analysis. Among urban areas with populations of at least half a million, the Texas capital city of Austin grew the […]
Top State Stories 3/1
IN: Indiana Senate advances bill to criminalize school books indystar.com The Indiana Senate approved a bill that would open teachers and school librarians to criminal prosecution over the content of books and other educational materials. It now goes to the state House for consideration. Should it pass, school employees could be charged with a Level 6 […]
Top State Stories 2/17
FL: Florida lawmakers move to give governor control over school athletics board tampabay.com A week after Florida’s high school sports association decided against requiring students to report their menstrual cycles, state lawmakers moved to give Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis control over the board. The private nonprofit organization oversees sports for grades six through 12 in […]
Some Towns Get Funding Boost From Census Corrections
After the U.S. Census Bureau released its first round of official 2020 population corrections in January, many states and cities still await action on the bulk of their counting issues and the funding shortfalls those mishaps can cause. Early winners are those areas where the census had clear technical problems — where mapping issues or […]
Top State Stories 2/6
VT: Vermont Senate bill would expand aid-in-dying to those living outside the state vtdigger.org The Vermont bill would strike the residency requirements from the state’s 2013 aid-in-dying law, which protects licensed health care providers from being prosecuted for writing a lethal prescription for a patient. In August, a Connecticut woman sued Vermont for the right to end her […]
More Millennials Are Leaving the Nest to Form Their Own Households
From 2016 to 2021, nearly every state saw a spike in the number of young adults between the ages of 25 and 44 forming new households, a development with far-reaching implications for state populations, economic growth and infrastructure. For many millennials, the economic fallout of the Great Recession a decade and a half ago postponed […]
Migrating Professionals Grow Black Middle Class in the South and West
Jan. 5—Erika Harrison, a Houston attorney who has lived in the area since she was 5, started her blog, Black Girls Who Brunch, “to showcase the vibrant food scene beyond the franchise restaurants.” But recently, the blog has grown into much more than that. In addition to providing restaurant recommendations, Harrison has become a connector […]
Top State Stories 12/20
LA: Louisiana governor to ask legislators for rape, incest exceptions to abortion ban lailluminator.com Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that he will ask legislators to add exceptions for rape and incest to Louisiana’s abortion ban. He also said some people were denied abortion access in Louisiana when they probably shouldn’t have been but claimed the post-Roe […]
Top State Stories 12/12
TX: Understaffing set stage for Texas prison escape, massacre texastribune.org Seven months after Texas saw one of the nation’s deadliest prison escapes, investigations into what went wrong have come back to one factor: The state’s lockups are dangerously short-staffed. DC: Shootings of youths are soaring in the District of Columbia, vexing city leaders washingtonpost.com Sixteen juveniles have […]