East-West Gateway’s May 2022 Map of the Month depicts the estimated net domestic migration for each of the 3,143 U.S. counties between July 2020 and July 2021. Domestic migration is the number of people moving into and out of a geographic area within the United States. This does not include anyone moving to or from another country nor any population change due to natural (births and deaths) causes. Green dots represent an estimated net gain of 200 persons during this period, while purple dots represent a net loss of 200 persons.
An estimated 8.8 percent of all counties had populations greater than 250,000 in July of 2020. Of those counties, 49.8 percent had an estimated domestic migration net loss by July of 2021. About 68.5 percent of all counties had populations less than 50,000 in July of 2020 and 64.5 percent of those counties had an estimated domestic migration net gain by July of 2021. In the 714 counties that had a population between 50,000 and 250,000, 75.1 percent had an estimated domestic migration net gain for the same time period.
The U.S. counties with the largest gains due to net domestic population were Maricopa County, AZ, in the Phoenix metropolitan area, with a net increase of 46,866 people, Riverside County, CA (31,251), Collin County, TX (30,191), Lee County, FL (25,864), and Williamson County, TX (25,128). Los Angeles County, CA had the largest estimated net loss due to domestic migration, 179,757 people, followed by New York County, NY (113,642), Kings County, NY (103,352), Cook County, IL (98,205), and Queens County, NY (74,129). The East-West Gateway region saw a net loss of 9,501 people due to more people moving out of the region than moving into the region.