COVID Only Accelerated the Blue State Exodus, by Michael Barone

Where are Americans moving? And where, to make things more specific, have Americans been moving since the sudden onset of COVID lockdowns? Answers to these questions come from the annual Christmastime release of the Census Bureau’s estimates of the population of the 50 states and the District of Columbia as of last July.

Comparing those numbers to the decennial census count of April 1, 2020, just when COVID restrictions were put in place, provides a view of how Americans moved, or didn’t, during the pandemic and post-pandemic 27 months.

Domestic out-migration — the number of U.S. residents leaving the state minus those entering — in 2020-22 was 3.3% of the 2020 population in New York state and 2.2% in Illinois and California. These are staggering numbers, far higher than any other state. The losses are undoubtedly concentrated in central cities, as suggested by the District of Columbia, where pre-COVID population was growing but in 2020-22 was down 3.8%. …

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