PA Lost 40K Residents In Past Year, Among Nation's Leaders

PENNSYLVANIA — More people left Pennsylvania last year than nearly any other state in the nation, the latest signal of a flux in regional demographics and interstate migration, according to the most recently available data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The population decreased by 40,000 between July 2021 and July 2022, the statistics show, the fourth largest decrease nationally behind only New York, California, and Illinois.

It was part of a larger pattern, as the northeast as a whole saw 218,851 residents leave the area. The losses amounted to a 0.4 percent loss for both Pennsylvania and the northeast region. This came despite a significant population increase nationally.

Losses for the Keystone State came in all three categories: migration out of the state to other states, migration out of the nation, and natural decrease, or deaths. Pennsylvania had the second highest natural decrease nationally at 23,021. The Keystone State trailed only Florida in that subcategory.

The south saw the largest increase overall, with a 1.1 percent increase in the region. Texas, meanwhile, saw the largest population increase nationally, increasing by 470,708 and boosting it's overall population just over the 30 million mark. Texas saw major gains in all three categories.

Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia were the next largest growers.

The midwest was the other region that saw a net loss, as 0.1 percent of its population.