2010 Census: State Population Numbers Released

[Metro Jacksonville]

2010 Census: State Population Numbers Released



The Census Bureau recently announced that the nation's population has increased 9.7% over the last decade.  Metro Jacksonville shares a state-by-state breakdown of the numbers.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-dec-2010-census-state-population-numbers-released

[brainstormer]

I find it extremely interesting looking at the apportionment of representatives over time and how population shifts every decade.  When you consider US history it makes sense looking at where people were moving and why.  Much of the Midwest really saw population growth during the heavy manufacturing period in the US.  Michigan's population followed the rise and fall of the US auto industry.  New York City and Chicago used to be the financial and retail centers, but as the US became more diversified companies left for other cities.  Growth in the Great Plains states has also slowed as farms got larger and the number of farmers got smaller.  California has always been popular but I can see the .com and tech phase of the 1980s-2000s has lost steam.
I'm trying to figure out what the next economic generator is going to be.  We don't really have one.  It may just be the retirement of lots and lots of baby boomers, and it is quite evident where they are heading to retire.  Florida must plan for the future and grow in smart ways or else the attractiveness of the state will lose its charm and Texas and Arizona will continue to win out.

[Doctor_K]

For you pseudo-statistics geeks out there, that means that the top 5 states by population contain over a third of the entire US population.

The top 10 states together contain almost exactly 54% of the entire population.

I'm not necessarily going anywhere with that, but it's definitely interesting to note (at least to me ).


More to Stephen's point regarding green energy:

Texas and California are the two largest states by population, and also happen to be two of the top five states (1 and 3, respectively) with the highest wind-power nameplate capacity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_States

California is #1 in terms of both Solar thermal and photo-voltaic solar power, Florida is #5 in PV capacity and New York #7.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_the_United_States#Statistics

California, Texas, and Florida are also closely tied to the space program.

I'd say the most-populated states are leading the way, per Stephen's criteria.

[Jason]

Its obvious that the south is growing much more rapidly than the north.   IMO, climate/weather and overpopulation are huge factors for why the northeast is declining and the south is growing.  The southern climates are much more supportive of year round quality of life and allow buisnesses to operate more effectively when they don't have to fight the nasty winter months.

Florida has to get its act together now, unless we want to look like a mix between LA and Atlanta from Jax to Miami.  Transit infrastructure needs a plan, development guidelines/boundaries need to be set and enforced, alternative energy sources need to be implemented, and conservation land needs to be vastly expanded.

[brainstormer]

biotechnology, green energy, materials, and space mining.

These could be the next economic booms.  If so what is FL doing to attract and create jobs within these areas?

[Ocklawaha]

1. Well kids, its obvious from the data that Florida won't need a Department of Transportation anymore, hell growth-sprawl-HIGHWAYS could all be handled out of a tobacco shed in Jackson County. We could also eliminate all rail development programs, close the schools, and board up the ports... NOBODY IS COMING THIS WAY ANYMORE!

2. We could be in REAL DANGER... Last time NY, MA, NJ, PA, OH, MI, IL, IA, MO lost so many seats in Congress they created what amounted to a race war to adjust our population back down. Wonder what they'll claim this time, so they can crush us, and spend another 150 years punishing us for losing. Just wondering...


OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

1. Well kids, its obvious from the data that Florida won't need a Department of Transportation anymore,

Ock...I'm so glad you're visionary like Rick Scott's transition team...lets all get behind the Department of Growth Leadership...woo hoo!

 

[finehoe]

The District of Columbia has more people than the state of Wyoming, yet Wyoming has two Senators and a Representative and DC only has a non-voting delegate.  Fair?

[redglittercoffin]

From http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/census-fast-growth-states-no-income-tax

It's all about taxes, stupid.

First, the great engine of growth in America is not the Northeast Megalopolis, which was growing faster than average in the mid-20th century, or California, which grew lustily in the succeeding half-century. It is Texas.

Its population grew 21 percent in the past decade, from nearly 21 million to more than 25 million. That was more rapid growth than in any states except for four much smaller ones (Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho).

Texas' diversified economy, business-friendly regulations and low taxes have attracted not only immigrants but substantial inflow from the other 49 states. As a result, the 2010 reapportionment gives Texas four additional House seats. In contrast, California gets no new House seats, for the first time since it was admitted to the Union in 1850.

There's a similar lesson in the fact that Florida gains two seats in the reapportionment and New York loses two.

This leads to a second point, which is that growth tends to be stronger where taxes are lower. Seven of the nine states that do not levy an income tax grew faster than the national average. The other two, South Dakota and New Hampshire, had the fastest growth in their regions, the Midwest and New England.

Altogether, 35 percent of the nation's total population growth occurred in these nine non-taxing states, which accounted for just 19 percent of total population at the beginning of the decade.



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/census-fast-growth-states-no-income-tax#ixzz18qw9lXVe

[urbanlibertarian]

"It's all about taxes, stupid."

True.  Plus less regulation and cheaper labor.

[DemocraticNole]

Texas is also growing because the cost of living, especially housing, is much cheaper than it is in California or Florida. Much of this has to do with lax urban planning standards and massive sprawl, but nonetheless it is what it is. Texas can keep using sprawl for growth as it has lots and lots of land. Florida and California do not have that luxury.

Also, Texas has invested heavily in its universities, something Florida has not and does not do. This has helped them grow a diversified economy, something Florida does not have.

[lewyn]

Five or ten years ago I would have agreed with "its about taxes."  But low-tax Florida now has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates (over 10 percent) and so does Georgia.  Meanwhile, Michigan, the sick man of America, has an average tax burden ( see http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/2181.html for more info on tax burdens).

[vicupstate]

2. We could be in REAL DANGER... Last time NY, MA, NJ, PA, OH, MI, IL, IA, MO lost so many seats in Congress they created what amounted to a race war to adjust our population back down. Wonder what they'll claim this time, so they can crush us, and spend another 150 years punishing us for losing. Just wondering...

When South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter, 70% of the US population was in the Northern states.  That's not too surprising considering virtually every immigrant to the US during the previous 50 years was arriving in the NORTH, since labor was provided by slaves in the South.

I've read a lot of nonsense from Neo-Confederates about reasons for the Civil War, but that is a new one on me.  You might want to do a little research first, especially since no state would 'lose' a seat in the US House, for several more decades after the war ended. 

[Doctor_K]

Tourism, agriculture (citrus, tomatoes, sugarcane, strawberries), phosphate mining, space, fishing, three huge ports, each of the four major metros have a significant financial services presences (banking, insurance, etc).

That's not diversified?

[finehoe]

"It's all about taxes, stupid."

True.  Plus less regulation and cheaper labor.

Everyone will be moving to Somalia next.  There's NO governmental interference there!