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How Much Your State's Population Grew (Or Shrank) In The Past Decade

The U.S. population grew by nearly 10 percent between 2000 and 2010. But that varied widely from state to state. Here's a map, based on numbers from the Census Bureau.

As the map shows, the country continued its long shift to the South and West.

Michigan, where the population fell by 0.6 percent, was the only state that actually shrank during the decade. But population growth lagged the national average in much of the Northeast and the Upper Midwest.

Several states out West, on the other hand, grew by more than 20 percent. Nevada, where the population expanded by 35 percent grew the most. That growth was driven by a cycle where a rising population fed a housing boom, which in turn attracted more people.

But since the housing bubble burst, Nevada has struggled. For more than a year, the state has had the highest unemployment rate in the country. Unemployment in Nevada is now over 13.4 percent.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jess Jiang
Jess Jiang is the producer for NPR's international podcast, Rough Translation. Previously, Jess was a producer for Planet Money. In 2014, she won an Emmy for the team's T-shirt project. She followed the start of the t-shirt's journey, from cotton farms in Mississippi to factories in Indonesia. But her biggest prize has been getting to drive a forklift, back hoe, and a 35-ton digger for a story. Jess got her start in public radio at Studio 360—though, if you search hard enough, you can uncover a podcast she made back in college.