US population center trending toward South this decade

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. population center is on track this decade to take a southern swerve for the first time in history. Last year, the South outgrew other U.S. regions by well over 1 million people. If the trend continues through this decade, by 2030 the mean center of the U.S. population will head due south from a rural county in the Missouri Ozarks. It will be the first time in U.S. history without a westward extension. Since the population center was first calculated in 1790, it has moved continuously westward. Experts say the southern allure has to do with housing affordability, lower taxes and remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.