Here are the fastest growing and shrinking counties in America
Florida and Utah are growing quickly, while shale country lost people last year.
The US Census Bureau releases annual estimates of the populations of each of America's 3,142 counties and county equivalents. Using those estimates, we found the percent change in each county's population between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2016, the Census Bureau's reference dates.
Continuing a trend that has been ongoing for decades, the South and West are growing rapidly. Most counties in the Northeast and Midwest saw little population change last year. Meanwhile oil-rich counties in North Dakota and Oklahoma saw significant drops in population.
This map shows each county's total population change. Red indicates a decline in population, while blue indicates an increase:
Four of the ten fastest-growing counties were in Texas, with tiny Hudspeth County seeing an incredible 18% increase from 3,425 residents in 2015 to 4,053 in 2016:
Despite the overall trend of southern and western counties growing, most of the ten fastest shrinking counties fall in those regions:
