Northeast Becomes Least Populated Area in U.S. for 1st Time

The Northeast has become the nation’s least populated region, falling behind the West for the first time, but it continues to be the most densely settled, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

The bureau also projected that Texas will surpass New York for second place behind California in population by 1995.

And between now and the year 2000, half of all U.S. population growth will occur in just three states: California, Texas and Florida, the report said.

The projections are based on assumptions about trends in births, deaths, immigration and movement within the country, bureau demographer Signe Wetrogen said.

The Northeast has been declining in its share of the U.S. population, with less growth than other areas, Wetrogen said. “It is the one region with the highest share of population in the older ages and has low birth rates.”

The Northeastern states, relatively smaller in land area than other parts of the country, remain the most densely packed, however. New Jersey leads the nation with more than 1,000 people per square mile.

Between 1987 and 1988, the Western region increased from 49.6 million people to 50.5 million, the report said. At the same time, the population of the Northeast edged upward from 50.1 million to 50.3 million, to slip into last place.