Call it the Sunbelt Slowdown.
Census estimates released Tuesday capture the impact of the housing downturn and economic recession, including the critical period after the financial meltdown in late 2008, on the nation’s counties and metropolitan areas.
The population figures show that annual growth of retirement-destination counties slipped from 3.1 percent between 2000 and 2007, to 1.7 percent between 2007 and 2009, despite the large cohort of baby boomers who are reaching retirement age.
In all, 126 of the 440 retirement counties — those that attract large numbers of people 60 and older — lost population during the recession, many of them in Sunbelt areas such as Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and California. In Florida, 33 of its 43 retirement counties grew more slowly, while seven others, led by Daytona Beach in Volusia County, lost population.
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Overall, fewer people are migrating to wider spaces in the Sun Belt in a reversal from earlier in the decade. Once booming in population due to the housing bubble, many of these areas are now experiencing sharply slower growth.
For the first time in decades, more people moved out of Las Vegas than moved in, due to foreclosures and a depressed tourism industry, while Orlando, Fla., had more people move out for a second year in a row. Also seeing decreases in residents moving in were Phoenix, Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C.
In contrast, Cleveland and Philadelphia stanched some population losses, while New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago saw gains. Boosted by a burst of federal hiring, the Washington, D.C., region had more residents move in than move out for the first time in seven years.
Urban hellholes for the win! Houston and Dallas also grew rapidly, while Travis County topped a million people. Consider this all an appetizer for the redistricting battles to come.