New York City has lost nearly half a million residents over the course of just two years, newly released United States Census Bureau data reveals.
The Census Bureau data, which shows population estimates for mid-2022, finds that fewer than 8.4 million residents remain living in New York City — still making the Big Apple the nation’s most populous city by several million.
In April 2020, the very start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, more than 8.8 million residents lived in New York City. This figure indicates a population loss of more than five percent from April 2020 to July 2022 with almost half a million residents leaving the city.
Americans moving out of deep blue cities is widespread, the Census Bureau data shows.
The second largest city, Los Angeles, California, and the third largest city, Chicago, Illinois, also lost residents over the course of two years. In Los Angeles, for instance, about 3.8 million residents remain in the city as of July 2022 compared to about 3.9 million residents in April 2020, a loss of about 100,000 residents.
Similarly, Chicago had about 2.67 million residents as of July 2022 but in April 2020, the city had about three percent more residents. Over the two years, about 85,000 residents left Chicago.
In addition to crime and social unrest following racial riots, housing prices are a major driver for Americans to leave one area for another. As the real estate site Redfin recently noted, only four major cities in the U.S. have home prices that are cheaper than rent prices: Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; and Houston, Texas.
Mass immigration helps send housing prices soaring, research has shown. Cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago — all of which are sanctuary cities that offer public benefits to illegal aliens — are inundated annually by illegal and legal immigration which, in return, raises home prices and rents, a boon for local landlords.
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John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.