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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

There is a deepening sense of fear as population loss accelerates in rural America. The decline of small-town life is expected to be a looming topic in the presidential election.

America’s rural population began contracting about a decade ago, according to statistics drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A whopping 81 percent of rural counties had more deaths than births between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis by a University of New Hampshire demographer. Experts who study the phenomena say the shrinking baby boomer population and younger residents having smaller families and moving elsewhere for jobs are fueling the trend.

According to a recent Agriculture Department estimate, the rural population did rebound by 0.25 percent from 2020 to 2022 as some families decamped from urban areas during the pandemic.

But demographers say they are still evaluating whether that trend will continue, and if so, where. Pennsylvania has been particularly afflicted. Job losses in the manufacturing and energy industries that began in the 1980s prompted many younger families to relocate to Sun Belt states. The relocations helped fuel population surges in places like Texas and Georgia. But here, two-thirds of the state’s 67 counties have experienced a drop in population in recent years.

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[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 137 points 6 months ago
  • “younger residents having smaller families and moving elsewhere for jobs”
  • “many residents in this deeply Republican town”

gee, I can’t imagine why young people would want to leave such a stagnant regressive environment …

[-] ohlaph@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago

Yeah, who could even begin to guess...

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

Probably something to do with the weather. We'll never know...

[-] TheBest@midwest.social 10 points 6 months ago

Its the water - its turning the freaking frogs gay

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 6 points 6 months ago

It's the fluoride, I knew it! No wonder I listen to so much pop music.

this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
240 points (98.8% liked)

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