Texas and Florida lead the U.S. in population gains, a new Census Bureau estimates.
QUICK FACTS:
- According to a new estimate by the United States Census Bureau, Florida and Texas, both Republican strongholds, are leading in population growth from July 2021 to July 2022.
- While Florida had the largest percentage increase and the fastest population growth, Texas saw the largest overall population gain in the country.
- This year alone, Texas gained over 470,000 people, becoming the only state outside of California to see a population of more than 30 million.
- For the first time since 1957, the Bureau reported Florida as the fastest-growing state.
REPUBLICAN FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS ON THOSE MOVING TO FLORIDA TO LEAVE BLUE STATES:
“Part of it, I think, is because we’ve done a good job and people have responded to that,” DeSantis said. “But I do acknowledge some of that is because people look at Biden and they’re like, I don’t want anything to do with that.”
BACKGROUND:
- In contrast, California lost nearly 500,000 residents in the last two years.
- Following some of the strictest COVID-19 lockdowns in the country, the Golden State also experienced a massive loss in businesses moving to Texas and Florida.
- “Despite the 2020 pandemic, this year Americans are following similar moving trends as prior years,” a report from North American Van Lines detailed last year. “Millions of Americans are moving either to start a new job or move home.”
- The report specifically noted that Americans “are fleeing” California to Texas and Florida, although New York, New Jersey, and Illinois were the “three states with the most outbound moves.”
- In October 2021, Tesla announced that it would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas.
- “It’s tough for people to afford houses and a lot of people have to come in from far away,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the time. “We’re taking it as far as possible but there’s a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area.”
- Musk first talked about the idea of moving the company in May 2020, after Democratic Governor Gavin Newson shut down large companies due to “safety” concerns over COVID-19.
