The Census Bureau’s Christmas gift to the American people, or at least to us demographics junkies, is its annual estimates of state populations at mid-year, issued in late December. They tell a story — actually, lots of stories — about how the nation is changing, sometimes in surprising ways.

The 2013-14 numbers just released, for example, show interesting contrasts with those of 2010-11, when the economy was flagging and stimulus money disbursed. Back then the Washington metropolitan area — Virginia, Maryland, D.C. — was growing well above the national average. Now, with the sequester cuts, growth in the region is below average.