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The BulleTin • Thursday, May 20, 2021 A13 America’s ‘places to be’ have shifted over 100 years BY HARRY STEVENS AND NICK KIRKPATRICK The Washington Post Change in population rank since 1920 The story of the U.S. population is one of fluidity. Of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, more than half jumped ahead or fell behind others this year, despite state population totals that showed the nation’s slowest population growth since the 1930s. Compared with a century ago, the shifts are even more significant, with states rising by as many as 33 positions or falling by as many as 16. No single explanation can capture the complexity of these population shifts. Within any given region, some states have flourished while others de- clined. In broad terms, states in the South and the West have experienced the biggest gains in the past century, with many rising in the past decade. Meanwhile, those in the Northeast and the Midwest have steadily declined. The West The nation’s last stagecoach robbery took place in 1916, signaling that the country’s frontier days were firmly behind it. The population increases in Western states such as Oregon and Colorado continued into the 21st cen- tury. Nevada, perhaps as much as any other state, encapsulates the Ameri- can West’s 20th-century growth story. During the first half of the century, the Silver State was the country’s least populous. “Las Vegas was this little seedy ex- tension of Los Angeles where the mob ran things, and people went to gam- ble but didn’t want to live,” said James N. Gregory, a history professor at the University of Washington. “But they began to build more and more of a livable infrastructure. So instead of just going to gamble, let’s go there to work.” Over the past decade, Nevada grew faster than much of the rest of the country, climbing from the 36th to the 33rd most populous state. Utah and Idaho grew even faster, recording the two fastest growth rates among all states over the past decade. Meanwhile, No. 1 California grew slower than the national average, los- ing a seat in the House for the first time. The state, which received a flood of domestic migrants in the mid-20th Increased Decreased No change Midwest Northeast WA ME VT ND MT NH NY MN OR CT WI SD ID PA IA NE NV CA CO KS DC OH IN IL UT MO West WV KY OK NM AR SC MS AK AL GA Southeast LA TX VA NC TN AZ RI NJ DE MD MI WY MA FL PR Southwest HI The Washington Post century up until the 1990s, had a net loss of nearly half a million people in the past two years. (Oregon, on the other hand, will gain a sixth seat in Congress.) Hawaii’s growth perhaps began just three days after it became a state in 1959, when Pan Am offered the first jet service to Honolulu, making the islands accessible to more Americans and encouraging a surge in tourism. The Southwest Of all the forces driving the past 100 years of migration in the United States, the widespread introduction of residential air conditioning may be the most humdrum — and among the most potent. Not all southwestern states rose in the rankings during this time, but a desert state like Arizona undoubtedly benefited from its imple- mentation. Yet air conditioning alone did not drive all of the population increases in the Southwest. The completion of Hoover Dam in 1936 spurred the de- velopment of Phoenix and Las Vegas and provided access to clean water, as did federal investments in military bases in Arizona and Texas. “Texas not only has a lot of im- migrants, but it also gets a lot of do- mestic migration,” Kenneth Johnson, a demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said. “And so that’s the one-two punch — domestic mi- gration and immigration — that can push a state up.” Texas’s growth over the past decade was prodigious, enough to earn two additional congressional districts, propelled by the oil industry, a low cost of living and a shared border with Mexico. If current population trends continue, the Lone Star State could overtake California as the nation’s most populous state. The Southeast The Southeast’s growth has been mixed, with states along the Atlantic Coast generally growing faster than their Gulf Coast and Appalachian neighbors. Over the past century, Florida has gone from the least to most populous state in the region, rising from 33rd largest a century ago to the third larg- est today. Starting in the 1920s the state ben- efited from what Gregory calls “the pursuit of the lifestyle,” as northerners and immigrants sought more temper- ate weather and economic opportu- nities. At the same time, racial segrega- tion and discrimination spurred more than 6 million Black Americans to leave the Southeast. Alabama and Mississippi are among the states that have repeatedly fallen back in the rankings. The Northeast In 1920, about 3 in 10 Americans lived in northeastern states, includ- ing New England, the Mid-Atlantic area and the District of Columbia. In 2020, only about 2 in 10 Americans called that region home. Over the past century, the northeast’s popula- tion has grown slower than the rest of the country as people have flocked to southern and western states. New York, the most populous state until the 1970 Census, has struggled with domestic migration losses. Slow growth cost the state a congressional seat this year. In a testament to the fluidity of the rankings, Connecticut and New Hampshire are the only two states that landed in the same spot in 2020 as they did in 1920. D.C. began to fall in the rankings starting in the 1950s amid the “white flight” across the country as hundreds of thousands of white residents left cities. Fiery riots following the assassi- nation of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 spurred a further exodus, and not just among white people. “If you moved, you swam; if you stayed put, you sank,” The Washing- ton Post’s Eugene Robinson wrote of the Black exodus from D.C. Lately, the city’s population has begun to re- bound. This year, D.C. jumped in the rankings for the first time since 1950. The Midwest The past century’s reorienting of the U.S. economy, from the produc- tion of goods to the provision of ser- vices, has been unkind to agricultural and industrial pursuits. Many parts of the Midwest have struggled as a result. Every state in this region has a lower rank now than it did 100 years ago. No state has fallen further than Iowa, the 16th most populous state in 1920 and the 32nd now. “Farming is kind of a zero-sum game for a family. They keep the land together or give it to one of the sons, typically, and the others do something else,” Gregory said. “Going and do- ing something else has led to big mi- gration routes out of Iowa since the 1800s.” Many factory jobs have dried up, and the Midwest is dotted with iconic American cities such as Cincinnati, Detroit and St. Louis that no longer attract the waves of job-seeking mi- grants that they once did. “Illinois receives a substantial amount of immigration ... yet it’s hurt by domestic migration,” Johnson said. The state was one of only three with a net loss of population since 2010. “What’s happening in the rural parts of the state may play out differently than what’s happening in the more ur- ban parts of a state.” Although the Midwest has lagged in recent decades, only one thing is certain in the long term: By 2120, the winners and losers in the great pop- ulation race are unlikely to look any- thing like they do now. SAVINGS EVENT SAVINGSEVENT Mattresses Chofa Just $549 Recliners Sofas Sectionals Bedroom Sets Lift Chairs SALE ENDS MEMORIAL DAY From $699 Dining Sets Accessories Swivel Glider Recliner Just $549 FREE Foundation or FREE Pillows with Purchase FREE DELIVERY & SPECIAL FINANCING AVAILABLE* *Subject to credit approval. See store for details 2071 S. Hwy 97, Redmond 541-548-2066 • www.wilsonsofredmond.net • 63485 N. Hwy 97, Bend 541-330-5084
