This Is the Fastest Shrinking City in America

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Aug 25, 3:00PM EDT

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This Is the Fastest Shrinking City in America — © Allard1 / iStock via Getty Images

The U.S. Census Bureau recognizes 384 metropolitan areas, based on its population cutoff. Among the reasons the data on metropolitan areas is useful is that 86% of the American population live in these cities. In aggregate, the population of U.S. metro areas grew by 9% between 2010 and 2020.

Not all cities are growing, however. To identify the fastest shrinking cities in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the change in resident population in all 384 metropolitan statistical areas from 2010 to 2020. The fastest shrinking city was far from the average growth for all metros. The population of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, dropped from 100,258 in 2010 to 86,278 in 2020 — a 14% decline.

In some of the recently released results from the 2020 census, one section was titled, “Around Four-Fifths of All U.S. Metro Areas Grew Between 2010 and 2020.” This means that about 75 metros shrank in population. The data also showed that the entire U.S. population grew at the slowest rate since the 1930s and that there is a wide contrast between the population growth rates among metropolitan areas, with some cities reporting negative growth.

Many other cities on the list are old industrial metros where economic conditions have been challenging for decades. This included Elmira, New York, where the population dropped 7% to 82,622, and Youngstown, Ohio, where the population dropped 6% to 531,420. See if they are among the metro with the highest poverty rate in every state.

Many of the fastest shrinking cities are in West Virginia, including four of the top 10. The population of Charlestown, the third-fastest shrinking city, dropped 9% to 254,145 between 2010 and 2020. The fifth-fastest shrinking city was Beckley, where the population declined 8% to 114,982. In the sixth fastest shrinking city, Weirton, the population shrank 7% to 115,184. And in the seventh-fastest shrinking city, Wheeling, the population also dropped 7% to 137,217. Some of these are among the cities with the most people on food stamps.

Other data used such as population figures, educational attainment rates, median household income, and the population with health insurance also come from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey one-year estimates.

Click here to see the fastest shrinking city in America.

50. Niles, MI
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.4%
> 2010 population: 156,813
> 2020 population: 153,025

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49. Syracuse, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.5%
> 2010 population: 662,577
> 2020 population: 646,038

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48. Williamsport, PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.5%
> 2010 population: 116,111
> 2020 population: 113,209

47. Kingston, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.6%
> 2010 population: 182,493
> 2020 population: 177,716

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46. Carbondale-Marion, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.7%
> 2010 population: 139,157
> 2020 population: 135,448

45. Lawton, OK
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.7%
> 2010 population: 130,291
> 2020 population: 126,775

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44. Monroe, LA
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.7%
> 2010 population: 204,420
> 2020 population: 198,836

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43. New Bern, NC
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.8%
> 2010 population: 126,802
> 2020 population: 123,198

42. Mansfield, OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -2.9%
> 2010 population: 124,475
> 2020 population: 120,891

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41. Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.0%
> 2010 population: 131,346
> 2020 population: 127,450

40. Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.1%
> 2010 population: 85,562
> 2020 population: 82,884

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39. Chico, CA
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.3%
> 2010 population: 220,000
> 2020 population: 212,744

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38. Norwich-New London, CT
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.3%
> 2010 population: 274,055
> 2020 population: 264,999

37. Springfield, OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.4%
> 2010 population: 138,333
> 2020 population: 133,593

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36. Glens Falls, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.5%
> 2010 population: 128,923
> 2020 population: 124,362

35. Muncie, IN
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.6%
> 2010 population: 117,671
> 2020 population: 113,454

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34. Utica-Rome, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.7%
> 2010 population: 299,397
> 2020 population: 288,291

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33. St. Joseph, MO-KS
> 2010-2020 population change: -3.7%
> 2010 population: 127,329
> 2020 population: 122,556

32. Lima, OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.1%
> 2010 population: 106,331
> 2020 population: 101,980

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31. Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.2%
> 2010 population: 274,549
> 2020 population: 262,945

Kankakee, Il. (CC BY 2.0) by Paul Sableman

30. Kankakee, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.3%
> 2010 population: 113,449
> 2020 population: 108,594

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29. Anniston-Oxford, AL
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.3%
> 2010 population: 118,572
> 2020 population: 113,469

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28. Erie, PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.3%
> 2010 population: 280,566
> 2020 population: 268,426

27. Parkersburg-Vienna, WV
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.3%
> 2010 population: 92,673
> 2020 population: 88,643

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26. Rockford, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.4%
> 2010 population: 349,431
> 2020 population: 334,072

25. Rocky Mount, NC
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.4%
> 2010 population: 152,392
> 2020 population: 145,688

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24. Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.5%
> 2010 population: 370,908
> 2020 population: 354,085

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23. Peoria, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.7%
> 2010 population: 416,255
> 2020 population: 396,781

22. Altoona, PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.8%
> 2010 population: 127,089
> 2020 population: 121,007

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21. Flint, MI
> 2010-2020 population change: -4.9%
> 2010 population: 425,790
> 2020 population: 404,794

20. Bay City, MI
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.0%
> 2010 population: 107,771
> 2020 population: 102,387

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19. Pittsfield, MA
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.1%
> 2010 population: 131,219
> 2020 population: 124,571

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18. Saginaw, MI
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.1%
> 2010 population: 200,169
> 2020 population: 189,868

17. Farmington, NM
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.2%
> 2010 population: 130,044
> 2020 population: 123,312

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16. Albany, GA
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.6%
> 2010 population: 153,857
> 2020 population: 145,206

15. Binghamton, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.7%
> 2010 population: 251,725
> 2020 population: 237,324

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14. Ocean City, NJ
> 2010-2020 population change: -5.9%
> 2010 population: 97,265
> 2020 population: 91,546

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13. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -6.1%
> 2010 population: 565,773
> 2020 population: 531,420

12. Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ
> 2010-2020 population change: -6.3%
> 2010 population: 156,898
> 2020 population: 147,008

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11. Cumberland, MD-WV
> 2010-2020 population change: -6.3%
> 2010 population: 103,299
> 2020 population: 96,779

10. Elmira, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.0%
> 2010 population: 88,830
> 2020 population: 82,622

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9. Watertown-Fort Drum, NY
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.0%
> 2010 population: 116,229
> 2020 population: 108,095

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8. Decatur, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.0%
> 2010 population: 110,768
> 2020 population: 103,015

7. Wheeling, WV-OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.3%
> 2010 population: 147,950
> 2020 population: 137,217

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6. Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.4%
> 2010 population: 124,454
> 2020 population: 115,184

5. Beckley, WV
> 2010-2020 population change: -7.9%
> 2010 population: 124,898
> 2020 population: 114,982

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4. Danville, IL
> 2010-2020 population change: -8.3%
> 2010 population: 81,625
> 2020 population: 74,855

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3. Charleston, WV
> 2010-2020 population change: -8.6%
> 2010 population: 278,009
> 2020 population: 254,145

2. Johnstown, PA
> 2010-2020 population change: -10.4%
> 2010 population: 143,679
> 2020 population: 128,672

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1. Pine Bluff, AR
> 2010-2020 population change: -13.9%
> 2010 population: 100,258
> 2020 population: 86,278

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.