(The Center Square) – According to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana and Mississippi lost population while the rest of the region’s populace increased.
Louisiana was the fifth worst for population loss, with the populace shrinking by 110,709 between April 1, 2020, and July 1. Neighboring Mississippi lost 13,944 residents and was ranked 33rd in terms of population gain or loss during the same period.
Digging deeper into the data, Louisiana lost 29,692 residents to other states, Mississippi 2,614. In 2023, Louisiana lost 14,274 residents, while Mississippi had a slight gain of 762.
Both states, along with Maryland (lost 99,579 residents) were the outliers in the U.S. Census’s South Region, which had its population expand by 706,266 in 2023.
The region consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Florida gained the most new residents with 818,762 between April 2020 and July 1, followed by Texas (656,220), North Carolina (310,189), South Carolina (248,055) and Arizona (218,247).
Among the other top gainers in the South were Tennessee with 207,097 new residents (sixth highest nationally), Georgia (185,752 for seventh place), Alabama (96,538, ninth best), Oklahoma (80,064, 10th best) and Arkansas (57,290, 12th best).
California had the largest population loss at 1.2 million people. It was followed by New York (882,676), Illinois (364,443), New Jersey (153,193) and Massachusetts (149,466).
