North American population growth
2019-Aug-19Which places in North America are growing and which aren’t? City populations are poorly defined and hard to compare but the boundaries of states and provinces are more objective. Here is the growth in population since 1970/71 in states/provinces with over 4 million people.
| Province | 1971 Pop. | 2016 Pop. | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 1,627,874 | 4,067,175 | 150% |
| British Columbia | 2,184,621 | 4,648,055 | 113% |
| Ontario | 7,703,106 | 13,448,494 | 75% |
| Quebec | 6,027,764 | 8,164,361 | 35% |
| State | 1970 Pop. | 2016 Pop. | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 1,770,900 | 6,931,071 | 291% |
| Florida | 6,789,443 | 20,612,439 | 204% |
| Colorado | 2,207,259 | 5,540,545 | 151% |
| Texas | 11,196,730 | 27,862,596 | 149% |
| Georgia | 4,589,575 | 10,310,371 | 125% |
| Washington | 3,409,169 | 7,288,000 | 114% |
| North Carolina | 5,082,059 | 10,146,788 | 100% |
| California | 19,953,134 | 39,250,017 | 97% |
| Oregon | 2,091,385 | 4,093,465 | 96% |
| South Carolina | 2,590,516 | 4,961,119 | 92% |
| Virginia | 4,648,494 | 8,411,808 | 81% |
| Tennessee | 3,923,687 | 6,651,194 | 70% |
| Maryland | 3,922,399 | 6,016,447 | 53% |
| Minnesota | 3,804,971 | 5,519,952 | 45% |
| Alabama | 3,444,165 | 4,863,300 | 41% |
| Kentucky | 3,218,706 | 4,436,974 | 38% |
| Wisconsin | 4,417,731 | 5,778,708 | 31% |
| Missouri | 4,676,501 | 6,093,000 | 30% |
| Louisiana | 3,641,306 | 4,681,666 | 29% |
| Indiana | 5,193,669 | 6,633,053 | 28% |
| New Jersey | 7,168,169 | 8,944,469 | 25% |
| Massachusetts | 5,689,170 | 6,811,779 | 20% |
| Illinois | 11,113,976 | 12,801,539 | 15% |
| Michigan | 8,875,083 | 9,928,300 | 12% |
| Ohio | 10,652,017 | 11,614,373 | 9% |
| Pennsylvania | 11,793,909 | 12,784,227 | 8% |
| New York | 18,236,962 | 19,745,289 | 8% |
Among the states with population over 10 million, there is a clear clustering with Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and California (all in the south or west coast) at the top, and Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York (all in the midwest or northeast) at the bottom.