The expansion of the South accounted for 87 percent of U.S. growth this year, as the region added more than 1.4 million residents, bringing the total population to 130,125,290, according to a Dec. 19 news release from the Census Bureau. Domestic migration accounts for the large population growth, as the South is the only region to have maintained growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Census officials stated. Largely driven by restrictive lockdown measures, along with mask and vaccine mandates, Americans fled Democrat-run cities over the past three years. According to census data, four Republican-led states welcomed the most transplants from blue states. Four southern states — Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia — accounted for 93 percent of U.S. population growth in 2022, and 67 percent of population growth this year, census data shows. Other states with Republicans in control also saw gains. Given that apportionment for congressional seats in the U.S. House is based on population, experts now say those states could gain congressional representation after the 2030 census is taken. Projections from the Brennan Center for Justice show that California could lose four seats in reapportionment — only the second time in its history to have lost representations. New York could lose three seats, and Illinois two seats. Based on the recent trends, according to the Brennan Center, Texas could gain four seats, Florida three seats, while seven right-leaning states could each gain a seat: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. Migration between states over time can have a significant impact on how much influence each state has in the U.S. House. “Postwar domestic migration and immigration, for example, helped California more than double the size of its congressional delegation between 1940 and 2010,” the Brennan Center said. Over the past seven decades, the South has gained the most House seats by region, while the Midwest and plains has seen a decline.Population trends highlighted in data released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau show large migration shifts to southern, mostly Republican-led states, which could give the GOP an advantage in Congress.
