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Social Explorer, New York Times Analysis finds more immigrants and suburbanites
FRIDAY, MAR 31, 2023
An analysis of newly released Census data by Social Explorer and The New York Times finds the numbers of immigrants almost tripled in the nation’s most populated areas, even as they lost residents to suburbs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
The Census Bureau data, which estimated county populations between July 2021 and July 2022, found the 20 largest counties gained 300,000 new residents through international migration. The immigration stabilized population losses in counties like San Diego, Miami-Dade, and King County. Wash., while slowing losses in Los Angeles and Brooklyn.
After losing almost 100,000 people in 2021, Manhattan gained almost 17,500 residents in 2022, the figures show. The gain in domestic migration was the first time since 2000 for the borough, which has traditionally been a magnet for immigrants but has lately drawn from young and wealthy Americans attracted to the nation’s largest city.
“The Manhattan turnaround is really big,” Andrew Beveridge, co-founder and president of Social Explorer, told The Times. “We’re not a hemorrhaging population anymore.”
The New York Times, the nation’s leading newspaper, theorized that the increase in the number of immigrants moving to the nation’s largest counties was simply a historical reflection of historical U.S. immigration trends. The newspaper, however, noted that the rise in young and wealthy people moving to Manhattan was surprising, given the soaring costs of living in the area.
Not all growth was in urban core areas, however. Counties described as exurbs by the American Communities Project make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for half the national population growth last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic is largely thought to have boosted mobility around the U.S., with millions of people able to move since being untethered from working at an office. The Census data show that counties with an abundance of recreational activities make up only 9 percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for 28 percent of its growth in 2022.
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