U.S. population growth slowed over the last decade to its lowest rate since the Great Depression. The U.S. population is aging rapidly. While baby boomers have started to hit retirement age, challenging economic circumstances have caused many younger Americans to postpone having a family — and this was before the pandemic made conditions even more difficult.

While the overall U.S. population still increased in the past decade, some parts of the country reported population decline, mostly due to people moving away. As people move away to either retire or to take on a new job, natural population increase (births minus deaths) has not been enough to offset net migration losses. Nearly every state has at least one county where the population declined significantly from 2010 to 2020 — in some cases by well over 10%.

Economic opportunity — or lack thereof — can be a major factor that causes people to relocate. Most of the fastest shrinking counties in every state have an unemployment rate and a poverty rate greater than or equal to that of the state itself. Other factors, like prevalence of violent crime, lack of recreational activities, and other less desirable qualities can also be factors that cause residents to leave an area in droves.

The fastest shrinking county in West Virginia is McDowell County. The county’s population declined by 23.5% from 2010 to 2020. The population of West Virginia overall decreased by 3.7% during that same time period, and the U.S. population increased by 6.7%.

McDowell County’s population declined by 5,192 people during the decade, from 22,108 in 2010 to 16,916 in 2020. This is due in part to negative net migration as 3,974 more people moved away from the county than moved to it during that decade.

To determine the fastest shrinking county in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on population from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates Program. Counties were ranked based on the total population change from 2010 to 2020. Only counties with at least 10,000 residents in 2010 were considered. Data on population change due to natural growth and net migration also came from the Census Bureau PEP program. Data on median household income and poverty rate came from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Data on unemployment for May 2021 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are not seasonally adjusted.

 

State	County	Total population, 2010	Total population, 2020	Total population change, 2010 to 2020
Alabama	Perry County	10,577	8,687	-17.9%
Alaska	Kodiak Island Borough	13,606	12,992	-4.5%
Arizona	Cochise County	131,359	127,450	-3.0%
Arkansas	Phillips County	21,755	17,299	-20.5%
California	Lassen County	34,895	30,016	-14.0%
Colorado	Las Animas County	15,506	14,420	-7.0%
Connecticut	Litchfield County	189,876	179,610	-5.4%
Delaware	New Castle County	538,496	561,531	4.3%
Florida	Gulf County	15,863	13,534	-14.7%
Georgia	Macon County	14,743	12,712	-13.8%
Hawaii	Honolulu County	953,203	963,826	1.1%
Idaho	Fremont County	13,243	13,218	-0.2%
Illinois	Cass County	13,641	11,925	-12.6%
Indiana	Blackford County	12,766	11,782	-7.7%
Iowa	Emmet County	10,302	9,095	-11.7%
Kansas	Montgomery County	35,468	31,502	-11.2%
Kentucky	Leslie County	11,310	9,637	-14.8%
Louisiana	Morehouse Parish	27,979	24,227	-13.4%
Maine	Aroostook County	71,873	66,804	-7.1%
Maryland	Allegany County	75,042	70,057	-6.6%
Massachusetts	Berkshire County	131,274	124,571	-5.1%
Michigan	Gogebic County	16,424	13,842	-15.7%
Minnesota	Koochiching County	13,319	12,059	-9.5%
Mississippi	Coahoma County	26,151	21,564	-17.5%
Missouri	DeKalb County	12,888	10,944	-15.1%
Montana	Fergus County	11,590	11,104	-4.2%
Nebraska	Box Butte County	11,308	10,696	-5.4%
Nevada	White Pine County	10,026	9,466	-5.6%
New Hampshire	Coos County	33,052	31,174	-5.7%
New Jersey	Cumberland County	156,610	147,008	-6.1%
New Mexico	Colfax County	13,751	11,927	-13.3%
New York	Delaware County	47,962	43,938	-8.4%
North Carolina	Northampton County	22,104	19,088	-13.6%
North Dakota	Walsh County	11,126	10,437	-6.2%
Ohio	Monroe County	14,631	13,586	-7.1%
Oklahoma	Blaine County	11,943	9,447	-20.9%
Oregon	Malheur County	31,316	30,983	-1.1%
Pennsylvania	Cambria County	143,693	128,672	-10.5%
Rhode Island	Bristol County	49,842	48,350	-3.0%
South Carolina	Allendale County	10,419	8,331	-20.0%
South Dakota	Yankton County	22,438	22,742	1.4%
Tennessee	Haywood County	18,805	17,002	-9.6%
Texas	Hale County	36,207	32,754	-9.5%
Utah	Emery County	10,976	10,147	-7.6%
Vermont	Rutland County	61,659	57,764	-6.3%
Virginia	Buchanan County	24,109	20,613	-14.5%
Washington	Yakima County	243,240	251,879	3.6%
West Virginia	McDowell County	22,108	16,916	-23.5%
Wisconsin	Price County	14,159	13,245	-6.5%
Wyoming	Carbon County	15,884	14,711	-7.4%

 

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