(The Center Square) — A small number of people are leaving Mississippi, according to new census data.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 national and state population estimates were released Thursday morning, reflecting that over the last three years, spanning the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi saw an average decline of 9,529 people leaving the state.
Mississippi ranks ninth for population decline in the report, coming in just ahead of Ohio yet behind Maryland, West Virginia, and Oregon.
The Magnolia State, according to the report, had an estimated population on April 1, 2020, of 2,961,288. The estimate for 2020 was 2,958,141, featuring a drop of 3,147. That number fell by 8,555 to 2,949,586 in 2021, and then dropped another 9,529 people to 2,940,057 in 2022 in the Gulf Coast state.
The bureau, according to the report, said following a lower rate of change through the first two years of the pandemic that resident population in the country increased by 0.4%.
While Mississippi has lost population, according to the report, the South saw the most gains in population with a 1.1% increase. Texas and Florida were the fastest growing states in 2022.
