Immigration Tripled in Top U.S. Counties Even as Many of Them Lost Population

Census Bureau report on Thursday showed that the number of immigrants in 2021 and 2022 nearly tripled, with immigration returning to pre-pandemic levels across the country.

Many of these counties continue to lose residents as they move out of their county and into suburbs, exurbs, and other parts of the country. They are also feeling the effects of the low birthrate in the United States.

These trends were revealed by the latest statistics in counties across the country. They show that the population is slowly growing, but many communities struggle to maintain their current levels.

Los Angeles County, Cook County (which includes Chicago) in Illinois and Brooklyn and Queens, both in New York, all saw a decline in population. However, the drop was less than it had been in 2021.

The census data also shows that the Sunbelt metro areas, such as Phoenix, Houston and Dallas, continue to attract a high percentage of Americans who have relocated.

Large counties are counties with a population of at least 500,000. Midsize counties have populations between 100,000 and 499,000. Small counties have a population of less than 100,000. Dates are the dates between July 1 and 30 of every year.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

By Monica Hersher

Despite the pandemic, it still had an effect on many counties. In a majority of them, there were more deaths than births. These figures cover the 12-month period ending June 30, 2022 and include deaths that occurred between late 2021, when the virus peaked, and early 2022.

The new data has some important takeaways.

Big Cities saw an Influx Of Immigrants

The 20 largest counties in the United States gained over 300,000 residents between July 20,21 and July 20,22. This includes immigrants, but also anyone who moved to the U.S.

Immigration stabilized population numbers in some counties such as San Diego and Miami-Dade, and King County, Washington, which includes Seattle.

Others saw a slight slowdown in their declines.

Los Angeles County lost 90.000 residents in 2022 compared to a loss 180,000 in the year 2021. Brooklyn's population dropped by 47,000 after dropping by 82,000 in the year 2021.

Fulton County (which includes Atlanta) gained 12,000 new residents in the past year after losing 7,000.

Newcomers are often drawn to large cities that have more liberal immigration policies and immigrant communities.

Theodore Moore - vice president of the New York Immigration Coalition - welcomed asylum seekers to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the summer of last year, after the Governor had bussed them north. Greg Abbott, Texas. According to Mr. Moore's group, about 50,000 migrants from Venezuela, Colombia and Haiti, as well as Cameroon and Haiti, arrived in New York last year. They were primarily seeking asylum. According to the coalition, another 20,000 Ukrainians fled to New York.

Immigration has historically been a key factor in the growth of America's major cities. These cities have experienced a steady outflow of residents every year.

Moore noted that many of these more recent immigrants have no family in New York and struggle to find housing or work authorization. He noted that many of these immigrants are forced to work off the books as street vendors, farm workers, or construction workers, whether they live in the city or rural areas. Many are also living in overcrowded homeless shelters. Mayor Eric Adams is converting hotels, offices and other structures to temporary housing.

Mr. Moore stated that asylum seekers are still flooding into the city. He said that 'there are still thousands and thousands of people coming through'. This is a pattern we'll continue to see.

Image

The Manhattan Exception

Manhattan, the urban doomsayer's favorite, experienced a dramatic turnaround. The borough gained 17,472 new residents in 2022 after losing nearly 100,000 in the year before -- the largest improvement in the country.

Manhattan, despite its near-record high rents, is an outlier in the country. New York City has not recovered yet -- it's still 405,000 short of a population estimate for 2020.

Andrew A. Beveridge is the president of Social Explorer a firm that collects demographic data. We're no longer hemorrhaging people.

According to the Department of City Planning, this is the first net increase in migration within the United States since at least 2000. The Department of City Planning reports that other boroughs continue to lose residents, pointing to the source of Manhattan’s growth: wealthy New Yorkers who fled at the beginning of the pandemic.

Beveridge attributed the recent increase in population to younger and wealthier people. The demographic details of the new population will not be revealed until June.

This is partly due to the fact that the cost of living has increased in the borough. According to Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, an appraisal and consulting company, Manhattan's median rent at the end the census reporting period in June 2022 was almost $4,000 including landlord concessions. This is a 28 percent increase from the same time last year.

Despite early predictions that suburban growth would be a reality, the commuter areas around Manhattan, including parts of Long Island, and the counties surrounding the urban core, have not attracted the same level of interest. Many areas continue to see a decline in population despite the initial hype.

These commuters may be crucial for Manhattan's continued revival and help explain the struggling real estate market. It is a good indicator of the fortunes of the city. According to Kastle System, a building-security firm, the office occupancy rate in New York City was 47 percent below prepandemic levels last week.

It's not like Manhattanites go to work either. Miller stated that 'Working from home meant everyone was going to leave the city'. It's not true, a lot of people in the Upper East Side work remotely for Wall Street, more so than those who live in Westchester.

What's Booming

Outer-ring suburbs and vacation areas, as well as retirement communities, continued to be attractive for Americans who relocated.

The American Communities Project has identified counties as exurbs that account for approximately 12 percent of America's population. However, they could be responsible for half of the population growth by 2022.

Government economists have identified counties that specialize in recreational activities. They account for 9 percent (of the population) and 28 percent (2022) of growth.

Kaufman County in Texas, located about 35 miles south of Dallas downtown, is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. Kaufman County, once a center for farming and ranching, has gradually suburbanized. It also includes parts of Cedar Creek Lake - a popular fishing area and recreational area. In 2022, its population will have grown by 9 percent, from 40,000 people in 1980 to 172,000.

Stewart McGregor, of the Kaufman Economic Development Corporation, said that during the pandemic the county was a popular destination among Dallas office workers, who only had to commute a few times a week. It can also be an affordable place to buy a new family-sized house.

Jaap Vos is a professor of planning and natural resource at the University of Idaho. He said that many exurban and holiday counties are experiencing economic and cultural change due to their increasing population.

He noted that wealthy newcomers in areas such as Sun Valley, Idaho known for its skiing resorts may have new spending and political habits, and may deplete the natural resources. They may also not be living there year-round.

Professor Vos added, "Do they have children?" Can we get them to shop at our local shops? Do they volunteer as much or more?

The Pandemic Long Tail

The data released on Thursday covered one of the most bleak and deadly periods of the pandemic. This was during the winter of 2021-2022. Three-quarters of counties in the United States had more deaths last year than births, which is "a rarity," said Kenneth Johnson a demographer from the University of New Hampshire. In 2018, only 45 percent of counties experienced more deaths than births.

Professor Johnson stated that the new data was not up-to-date enough to show how migration and population patterns in the United States have changed since the pandemic. The numbers indicate that immigration will be a major driver of growth in the future, because the country had been aging for some time and was experiencing low fertility levels even before Covid-19. This puts pressure on the nation to integrate newcomers in the housing market, schools and job market.

Immigration is key to growth, Professor Johnson said.