The population of Louisiana dropped by 0.28% from 2019 to 2020, placing it among 15 other states with population declines, including Mississippi and West Virginia, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
By contrast, Texas and Florida, two states with no income taxes and business-friendly rates, saw increases of 1.3% and 1.1% respectively.
The U.S. population as a whole grew by 0.35%, or 1.1 million residents, the smallest rate in at least 120 years, a trend that demographers say provides a glimpse of the coronavirus pandemic’s toll.
Population growth in the U.S. already was stagnant over the past several years due to immigration restrictions and a dip in fertility, but coronavirus-related deaths exacerbated that lethargic-growth trend, says William Frey, a senior fellow at The Brooking Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.
An analysis by Frey shows that it’s the smallest increase this century and smaller than any in the last century as well. At the height of the Spanish flu, the growth rate from 1918 to 1919 was 0.49%—even with U.S. troops abroad during World War I.
Among the states, Idaho had the largest single-year population increase, growing 2.1% to 1.8 million residents. It was followed by Arizona, which grew 1.8%; Nevada, which increased 1.5%; Utah, which grew 1.4%; and Texas.
Sixteen states lost population, including California, the nation’s most populous state, which declined 0.18% to 39.3 million residents.
The estimates released Tuesday were conducted independently of the 2020 census, but they offer a preview of what the census may show once its data is finished being crunched. The estimates show that California could lose a House seat for the first time in the state’s history, while Texas could gain three seats and Florida could gain two seats, according to Frey.
Five other states—Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon—stand to gain one seat. Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia stand to lose a seat, according to Frey. See the full report.
