Name: Alabama population stagnant as rest of South booms
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Alabama population stagnant as rest of South booms

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NEW!1,597shares[Can’t see the map? ]Alabama - deep in the heart of the fastest growing region in the country - is standing still.The state’s population grew by less than 3 percent between July 2010 and July 2020, according to . That’s significantly lower than the South as a whole, which grew by more than 10 percent during that time.The annual federal estimates are not the same as the 2020 decennial Census, the official count which is expected to be released this spring.Alabama’s population and growth are firmly in the middle of the pack nationally. The Census now estimates there were 4,921,532 people living in Alabama last July, making it the 24th most populous state. Alabama added an average of 13,600 people per year between 2010 and 2020, which is also the 24th highest annual average.[Can’t see the chart? ]But Alabama’s slow growth is notable when compared to many of its other Southern neighbors. Within the South, Alabama grew faster than only three other states - Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia. Mississippi and West Virginia actually lost population during the last decade.And some other Southern states saw huge growth.The already populous Texas grew by 16 percent - the second most of any state, though Washington, D.C., actually grew faster, at 18 percent. Florida also saw fast growth, at 15 percent. Already the most populous region in the country, the South’s population boomed during the 2010s. The 16 states - and Washington, D.C. - which make up the region as defined by the added nearly 12 million people combined between 2010 and 2020. That’s a growth rate of 10.3 percent.[Can’t see the map? ]The next closest region - the West - added less than 7 million people between 2010 and 2020, or a growth rate of 9.1 percent.Both the Midwest and Northeast - the other two regions defined by the Census - grew much slower. The Midwest added just over 1 million people, for a growth rate of 2 percent. The Northeast struggled even more, adding less than 500,000 people in 10 years and growing by less than 1 percent over that time.In fact, both the Northeast and Midwest actually lost population from 2019 to 2020, according to the Census estimates. The Northeast has now lost population two years in a row, and has trended in the wrong direction for much of the last decade.[Can’t see the charts? ]The Northwest went from modest 0.4 percent annual growth in 2011 to losing 0.3 percent in 2020, and saw its percent change in population plummet nearly every year during the last decade. The Midwest didn’t experience as severe a drop, but has seen declines over the last four years. in recent years, and even the fast-growing South and West have felt that slowdown.The West has seen a marked drop off, from an annual growth of 1.1 percent in 2015, which rivaled the South at the time, down to just 0.5 percent in 2020. The South went from 1.2 percent annual growth in 2015 down to 0.8 percent in 2020.The Census releases estimates every year for the population of every state, city and county - educated guesses of the populations in each. But every 10 years there is an attempt to actually count every person - known as the Decennial Census. That count was conducted in 2020 and will be released later this year and will likely be different than recent estimates in some cases. Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at , and follow him on Twitter . Read more Alabama data stories .Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!1,597shares[Can’t see the map? ]Alabama - deep in the heart of the fastest growing region in the country - is standing still.The state’s population grew by less than 3 percent between July 2010 and July 2020, according to . That’s significantly lower than the South as a whole, which grew by more than 10 percent during that time.The annual federal estimates are not the same as the 2020 decennial Census, the official count which is expected to be released this spring.Alabama’s population and growth are firmly in the middle of the pack nationally. The Census now estimates there were...

Alabama population stagnant as rest of South booms

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