The One Minute Geographer: The Great Plains — A Sea of Population Loss

Counties in orange lost population between 2010 and 2020. Map from the US Census Bureau. 100-degree meridian added by the author. Location of the meridian is approximate.

Amazing: despite the nation’s population growth of 7.4% between 2010 and 2020, most (53%) of the country’s 3,143 counties LOST people.

Growth occurred in and around our 384 metropolitan areas. About 80% of those grew.

This is exactly what we saw on our Magical Meridian in the previous post where 46 of our 54 counties lost people (85%) and almost all of the population growth was concentrated in the two metropolitan counties in Texas that are part of the Laredo and Abilene metros.

So the 100-degree meridian sits in an orange sea of population loss as you see on the map above. Below is the chart showing the 10 counties with the largest percentages of population loss.

US Census figures. Calculations by the author.

Below is a map of the strip showing the counties with the greatest population losses. Perhaps surprisingly, 8 of the 10 are in Texas. Maybe it’s those booming Texas opportunities elsewhere that attract people out of these rural counties. (And keep in mind these counties are not necessarily the biggest decliners in each state; simply those that touch the meridian.)