This report looks at how the population of the United States has changed between Q1 2020 and Q1 2023. It uses mobile device signals observed in every county across the country to assess population distribution. When the vast majority of a device’s associated signals are present in that state or county, it is recorded in that location. The proportion of total devices in a state or county is calculated by dividing the number of unique devices observed in that state or county by the overall number of unique devices. The difference in the number of unique devices observed in a region is then used to calculate changes in population distribution. The report covers unique devices discovered during a three-year period beginning in January 1, 2020, and ending March 31, 2023. Notably, Gravy Analytics collects more than 60 billion location signals from consumer mobile devices every day.

Upon analyzing the top ten counties (Figure 1) that experienced the highest population growth and contrasting them with the ten counties that encountered the largest population decline, distinct trends emerge. It becomes evident that consumers preferred smaller markets with lower average housing costs. The median house value in counties experiencing population growth was $279K, which is approximately 38% lower than the median house value in counties experiencing population loss. Meanwhile, the median household income in these growing counties was only 9% lower, demonstrating that people chose to relocate to locations where they could work while maximizing the value of their wages.

Figure 1: The chart shows a detailed breakdown of the top and bottom countries within each state, as determined by population growth or decline. The information comprises the total population, average median household income, and house value.

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