By Mike Schneider, Associated Press, March 24, 2022
“[T]ens of thousands of residents … vacated some of the nation’s biggest, most densely populated and costly metropolitan areas in favor of Sun Belt destinations during the first full year of the pandemic, from mid-2020 to mid-2021, according to new data released [on March 24th] by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The exodus from the biggest U.S. metropolitan areas was led by New York, which lost almost 328,000 residents. It was driven by people leaving for elsewhere, even though the metro area gained new residents from abroad and births outpaced deaths.
“San Francisco saw a loss of more than 116,000 residents.
“The San Jose, Boston, Miami, and Washington areas also lost tens of thousands of residents, primarily from people moving away.
“The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2021 estimates also showed micro areas — defined as having a core city of less than 50,000 residents — gaining population from mid-2020 to mid-2021, after years of slow growth or declining population. The small population gains were driven by people moving there, as deaths continued to outpace births in many of these communities. … According to data released earlier this year from the California Policy Lab, Idaho saw the biggest increase in move-ins from San Franciscans during the pandemic.”
Read the full article here. (~2 min.)