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

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

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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.

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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.

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u/ds629 3d ago

Yep yep. Once again, if you take the most upvoted popular hivemind opinion on reddit and then inverse it, you'd be closer to reality and the truth.

"People are leaving Florida in droves" - wrong

"Texas is such a hellhole and they are losing so many people" - wrong

Doesn't even matter if you present them with the Census data (on the topic of population), they'll perform mental gymnastics instead of admitting they're wrong. I live in one of those northern metros, so it's not like I'm even personally invested in this topic.

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u/gsfgf 3d ago

They're correct about urban cores in rust belt cities. But this isn't a map of that.