While Philadelphia saw one of the sharpest population declines in the United States from 2022 to 2023, its four neighboring counties each grew, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday.
Montgomery (+3,698), Chester (+3,146), Delaware (+847) and Bucks (+427) counties each saw an increase in residents from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023 — a rarity in Pennsylvania, where 57 of 67 counties experienced population declines. And no county in the state had a more drastic drop than Philadelphia, which lost 16,294 residents – the sixth-largest numerical population decline in the country, according to the report.
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Like many cities, the COVID-19 pandemic set off an exodus in Philadelphia, which has had a population decline for three straight years. The city went from 1,600,684 residents in July 2020 to 1,550,542 last year — a more than 3% drop of 50,142 people.
Meanwhile, Chester (+14,954) and Montgomery (+11,744) counties have each grown by more than 1% over that three-year period.
As far as regions around the country, Texas and Florida saw some of the biggest population gains. So for the Philadelphians that didn't move to the suburbs, maybe they migrated south.
"Domestic migration patterns are changing, and the impact on counties is especially evident," Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Branch, said in the report. "Areas which experienced high levels of domestic out-migration during the pandemic, such as in the Midwest and Northeast, are now seeing more counties with population growth. Meanwhile, county population growth is slowing down out west, such as in Arizona and Idaho."