Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

TERENCE P. JEFFREY: Americans Are Leaving Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Chicago And Philadelphia

Cedric Letsch/Unsplash

There is one competition where Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia are not beating other major locations in this country. It is in persuading people to stay there.

The Census Bureau this month released its estimates on the populations that each American county had as of July 1, 2023. In a release about this data, it included a table listing the 10 counties that had the largest one-year decline in population as of that date. 

Los Angeles County ranked first, as this writer reported for the Daily Caller News Foundation. As of July 1, 2022, it had a population of 9,719,765 people. By July 1, 2023, that had dropped to 9,663,345. This one-year decline of 56,420 was approximately twice the decline that occurred in Kings County, New York, which ranked second.

Kings County, which is the borough of Brooklyn, saw its population drop from 2,589,531 to 2,561,225 — a decline of 28,306.

Queens County, New York, which is the borough of Queens, ranked third. Its residents dropped from 2,278,558 to 2,252,196 — a decline of 26,362.

Bronx County, New York, which is the borough of the Bronx, ranked fourth. It dropped from 1,381,808 to 1,356,476 — a decline of 25,332.

Cook County, Illinois, where Chicago is located, ranked fifth. Its population dropped from 5,111,566 to 5,087,072 — a decline of 24,494.

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, which is the city of Philadelphia, ranked sixth. Its population dropped from 1,566,836 to 1,550,542 — a decline of 16,294.

The other four counties that the Census Bureau had in the top 10 for population losses between July 2022 and July 2023 were Orange County, California (which lost 14,617 residents); Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the home of Pittsburgh (which lost 7,780); Wayne County, Michigan, the home of Detroit (which lost 7,773); and San Diego, California (which lost 7,203).

It should be noted that two of the counties in New York City — New York County (which is Manhattan) and Richmond County (which is Staten Island) — did not have the dramatic population losses seen in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. In Richmond County, the population declined by only 671 from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.

While New York County did see a significant population decline in the year that ended on July 1, 2021 (when it dropped by 99,177), it saw population increases in the years that ended on July 1, 2022 (16,488) and 2023 (2,908).

So, why did Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Chicago and Philadelphia lose population?

Did people stop having babies there? No.

In Los Angeles County, there were 95,354 babies born in the year that ended on July 1, 2023, according to the Census Bureau. At the same time, there were 73,138 deaths. That resulted in what the Census Bureau calls a “natural change” in population of 22,216.

Did Los Angeles County lose population because people did not migrate there from foreign countries? No. In the year that ended on July 1, 2023, according to the Census Bureau, “international migration” brought 40,388 people to the county.

However, during that same period, Los Angeles lost 119,037 people to “domestic migration” — people who moved from that county to somewhere else in the United States. When you subtract the 40,388 who came into the county from foreign locations from the 119,037 who left the county for other domestic locations, it results in what the Census Bureau calls a “net migration” loss of 78,649 people for Los Angeles in the year that ended July 1, 2023.

Subtract the natural change that resulted from births exceeding deaths (22,216) from the population lost through net migration (78,649) and it gives you 56,433-or approximately the 56,420 in total population the Census Bureau estimates Los Angeles County lost in the year that ended on July 1, 2023.

Kings, Queens, the Bronx, Cook and Philadelphia counties were similarly impacted negative domestic migration.

In Brooklyn (Kings County), births (31,066) exceeded deaths (16,892) in the year ending on July 1, 2023, resulting in a natural increase of 14,174. In addition, the borough saw 13,292 people come in through international migration. But 55,308 people left Brooklyn through domestic migration, resulting in a net migration that removed 42,016 people from the borough.

There were 23,304 babies born in Queens in the year leading up to July 1, 2023, and 15,544 people died — resulting in a natural change of 7,760. International migration brought another 16,290 to the borough. But domestic migration drew 50,161 people out of Queens, giving the borough a negative net migration of 33,871.

In the Bronx, the babies born (16,614) outnumbered the people that died (10,684); and international migration brought in 10,224 people from outside the country.

But, then, 41,473 migrated out of the Bronx to somewhere else in this country.

In Cook County, Illinois, the 53,124 babies born in the year ending on July 1, 2023, outnumbered the 43,149 who died; and international migration brought in 23,790 to the county.

But 58,105 migrated out.

In Philadelphia, 19,208 babies were born while 14,689 residents died; and international migration brought 7,038 people into the county.

But 27,667 migrated out.

Where did counties grow the most in population? Texas.

Eight of the 10 counties that had the largest growth in the year that ended on July 1, 2023 were in that state. The other two were in Arizona and Florida.

While the population of Los Angeles County declined by 56,420, Harris County, Texas, grew by 53,788.

It was followed by Collin County, Texas (36,364); Montgomery County, Texas (31,800); Maricopa County, Arizona (30,038); Polk County, Florida (29,948); Denton County, Texas (29,943); Fort Bend County, Texas (27,859); Bexar County, Texas (27,488); Tarrant County, Texas (27,301); and Williamson County, Texas (24,918).

Terence P. Jeffrey is the investigative editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation. To find out more about Terence P. Jeffrey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.