Wheeling, WV-OH population has decreased over the past year | Virginia

In the first year of the pandemic, only about 27 million Americans moved to a new home. This figure represents a decrease of 9% compared to the previous year and continues a multi-year trend of lower mobility rates.

People decide to move for a wide variety of reasons. Some are looking to move to a nicer house or apartment. Some move to start a new job. Some are expanding their families and need a bigger house. And some move to send their children to better schools or to escape to a more hospitable climate, among other reasons.

One of the most striking trends in the latest migration data from the US Census Bureau is the rapid population decline in some of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Dozens of cities across the country now have lower populations than a year ago.

Many factors specific to large cities, including high housing prices and a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19, have likely contributed to emigration over the past year. Of course, natural evolution, ie the total number of births minus the number of deaths in a given area, is also a factor in demographic evolution. And falling birth rates coupled with rising death rates during the pandemic have also contributed to population declines in many of these places.

In the Wheeling metro area, which covers parts of West Virginia and Ohio, the population fell from 138,943 in July 2020 to 137,740 in July 2021. The 0.9% decline ranks 21st rank among all US metropolitan areas.

The local population decline has been driven by natural change, with the metropolitan area recording 950 more deaths than births in the past year. Net migration, meanwhile, contributed to the population decline of about 270 people over the same period.