Region loses population

Posted 8/21/12

UPPER DELAWARE VALLEY — According to the U.S. Census Bureau, most of the counties in the Upper Delaware Valley lost population in the year ending on July 1, 2015. Sullivan County, NY had the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Region loses population

Posted

UPPER DELAWARE VALLEY — According to the U.S. Census Bureau, most of the counties in the Upper Delaware Valley lost population in the year ending on July 1, 2015. Sullivan County, NY had the biggest population loss of any county in the valley as well as in New York State, dropping to 74,877, for a loss of about 1.18%, or 760 people.

Also on the New York side of the river, Ulster County’s population fell by about 0.36% or 644 residents, and Delaware County dropped 1.17% to 46,053.

The population figures were also negative in Pennsylvania. The estimate for Wayne is that the county started the year with 51,401 and ended the year with 51,198.

Pike County started the year with 56,191 and lost about 240 residents to end with 55,949.

All of the counties have been hit with multi-year declines reaching back to 2010. The cause for the continued decline in counties in the Northeast has generally been attributed to jobs lost or a lack of new ones being created since the onset of the Great Recession in 2007. Also, many people continue to migrate away from the rural Northeast to areas in the south.

Still, there is some growth in the region. For instance, Orange County, NY saw a slight increase in population over the year, adding 1,653 residents, or about 0.44%, but only six other upstate counties saw an increase.

A press release from the Empire Center for Public Policy explained it this way: “Forty-one of the 50 upstate counties lost population between 2010 and 2015—also in contrast to 2000-2010, when only 18 upstate counties lost residents. Nonetheless, growth in New York City was strong enough to push up the state’s total population by 417,704 people, or 2.2%, during the latest five-year period.”

As the Center noted, the statistics in New York City were decidedly more upbeat than the rest of the state, with every one of the city’s five boroughs gaining population. Overall, the city added 55,211 people during the year that ended July 1, bringing the city’s total population to more than 8,550,405.

The Center also says that people are moving away from New York City, but new arrivals are more than making up for the loss.

“Migration explains much of the difference between upstate and downstate trends. All regions have lost population due to domestic migration—the movement of residents to other states (and across county lines)—and the rate of migration to other states is higher for New York City than for most upstate counties. But ‘natural increase’ from childbirths and an influx of foreign immigrants more than offset the downstate loss.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here