San Francisco’s population hit hard during pandemic, Census data shows

San Francisco’s metropolis and county inhabitants shrank simply over 7% from July 2020 to July 2022, in accordance with new U.S. Census Bureau knowledge.

Why it issues: The previous few years have been particularly turbulent for inhabitants tendencies, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting beginning and loss of life charges, interstate and worldwide migration, and extra.

• In the meantime, San Francisco’s economic system has struggled to get well from the monetary impacts of the pandemic.

By the numbers: San Francisco County, which includes solely the town of San Francisco, had a inhabitants of 808,437 in July 2022, down from 870,393 in July 2020.

• San Francisco had the steepest inhabitants decline amongst Bay Space counties, adopted by San Mateo County with a 4.4% inhabitants loss from 2020 to 2022.
• Statewide, California’s inhabitants declined 1.2% from July 2020 to July 2022, to simply over 39 million.

Of word: San Francisco’s inhabitants decline slowed from July 2021 to July 2022, in contrast with 2020 by 2021.

• The town’s inhabitants dropped 6.8% from 2020 to 2021, however simply 0.3% from 2021 to 2022.

Between the strains: In San Francisco, the inhabitants decline was seemingly at the least partially fueled by tech staff newly unshackled from their places of work within the distant work period, mixed with excessive housing prices within the space.

• Manhattan, nonetheless, grew a bit, as Axios’ Emily Peck stories, complicating the sweeping “huge cities are dying” narrative of the late pandemic period.

Zoom out: Idaho, Montana and Florida had the very best inhabitants progress of U.S. states from 2020 to 2022, whereas New York, Illinois and Louisiana sustained essentially the most shrinkage.

• Idaho’s inhabitants grew almost 4.9%, whereas that of Montana and Florida grew 3.3% and three%, respectively.

• New York, in the meantime, shrank about 2%, whereas Illinois and Louisiana misplaced 1.6% and 1.3% of their populations, respectively.

The intrigue: A number of the fastest-growing areas — Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico — are additionally a number of the most weak to the continuing results of local weather change, like drought and a dwindling water provide.

What to look at: whether or not the town implements a plan to construct 82,000 housing models over the subsequent eight years, greater than half of which should be thought of reasonably priced. And if San Francisco does succeed, whether or not inhabitants ranges can be affected.

• Plus, whether or not the exodus will proceed to gradual and whether or not the rebound in immigration sustains within the Bay Space.