r/dataisbeautiful • u/TA-MajestyPalm • 4d ago

OC [OC] Post-Pandemic Population Growth Trends, by US Metro Area (2022->2024)

Post image

Graphic by me, created in Excel. All data from US Census here: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

I've created similar graphics in the past, but usually from 2020-2024. This is not the best time frame as it combines the abnormal covid years with post pandemic movement.

This time frame (2022-2024) shows the most current and ongoing population trends of the last 2 years.

I also wanted to better categorize the cities into broad cultural regions vs the arbitrary geographic census regions.

883 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

310 comments sorted by

View all comments

69

u/Rarewear_fan 4d ago

Interesting stats that are often divorced by what many Reddit users claim. Go on any board related to moving or where specifically Americans talk about their lives, and many are saying cities like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland are popping off, tons of people moving there, great places to live now, etc.

Now they have definitely gotten better in the last 10 years so there is truth, but the midwest and Northeast are not really growing anymore. In the South east it has popped off so much that house prices and property tax rates have exploded since COVID. They are stabilizing now, but the main driver for people moving (economic opportunity) has really gone up in the south along with the wealth it brought compared to even the 2000s.

13

u/UnsurprisingDebris 4d ago

You are talking about cities and this graphic is talking about metro areas. Also, Pittsburgh has a very old average population.

Pittsburgh is getting a bunch of people moving to the area, but we also have a massive amount of elderly people dying here.

6

u/Rarewear_fan 4d ago

I meant metro areas when I said "cities"

12

u/UnsurprisingDebris 4d ago

Okay well there is part of the problem. Pittsburgh’s metro area includes a whole bunch of old mill, mining and farming towns that are hemorrhaging population and that in turn would drag down the "growth" of the metro.

I am in no way saying that Pittsburgh is booming by any means, but the data definitely doesn't tell the whole story.

1

u/Rarewear_fan 3d ago

I’d like to see this same map but just for actual cities or specific neighborhoods/towns in a metro area adjusted for population. I still believe the south will be overly represented, but I also believe some high spots will be in specific neighborhoods/areas of larger metro areas that more and more people are migrating to.

Like if I had money in Chicago but didn’t want to leave, I’d definitely want to go to the best up and coming area in the metro.

0

u/gsfgf 3d ago

But the redditors you're referring to are talking urban cores.