(AmeriStat, June 2001) The 1990s marks the only decade in the 20th century without any state losses in population in the United States. Even the four states whose population declined in the 1980s — Iowa, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming — experienced modest positive growth in the 1990s.
Different regional factors account for the across-the-board increases in U.S. population. In the Northeast, increased immigration helped offset the flight of the native-born population to southern and western states. The South and West not only gained a large number of international and domestic migrants over the decade, but also had many more births than deaths — reflecting the relatively young populations in those areas. In the Midwest, population growth around cities like Fargo, North Dakota, offset the population declines in more rural areas. Finally, the unusually high response rates to the 2000 Census may have contributed to some states' unexpected growth.
The non-California West (particularly Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado) and the New South (especially Georgia and North Carolina) have emerged as the greatest population winners of the 1990s. In contrast, the Midwestern and eastern coastal regions of the United States saw much more modest gains.
U.S. Population Change by State, 1960—1970
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Population Change by State, 1970—1980
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Population Change by State, 1980—1990
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Population Change by State, 1990—2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau.