Sierra Vista may be a sorry excuse for a town that only exists because of the army base. It’s basically a retirement village with nothing to do. It’s quiet which is great if you don’t mind some down-time, but otherwise, this town isn’t going anywhere.
Surrounded by towering 10,000-foot mountains and known as the “Humming Bird Capital of the U.S.,” Sierra Vista is primed for outdoor exploration, but in spite of that, about 7,500 people moved out of Sierra Vista in the last eight years.
Cleveland, Ohio
Out of the largest U.S. cities with 300,000 people or more, only five – including Cleveland – have a population that is now smaller than even just five years ago. Cleveland is extremely dreary with all of the rain in the fall, but besides the bad weather, the city needs some serious help if it wants to stop shedding so many citizens.
It may not be the worst place to raise a family, but it's also not the best place either. Basically, the city needs to improve their school and repair their roads.
Vineland, New Jersey
The city of Bridgeton lost about 5,732 people between 2010 and 2018. New Jersey is one of the slowest expanding states in the nation. In the last eight years, the Garden State's population expanded at a leisurely pace of just 1.2%, a fraction of the 5.8% national population growth over that same period.
Population growth across the state has been hampered lately by people increasingly getting carried away by, as you could guess by now, better career opportunities. In 2018, the unemployment rate was 7.5% in Bridgerton and 4.1% in New Jersey.
Farmington, New Mexico
Farmington went through numerous "oil and gas" booms during the 20th century, and at one time, Farmington was the leading producer of oil and gas in the state of New Mexico. Over the last few years, however, Farmington's population declined by about 4.0% over a period when every other metro area in New Mexico grew by at least 3.0%.
Perhaps if compared with other tiny towns in New Mexico some might like this sort of laid-back town with nothing to do, but most people don't and scoot on out when they get the chance.
Watertown, New York
Overall, Watertown is an alright place to live, not terrible but not great either. Watertown is one of three cities in upstate New York to report near nation-leading population decline in the last nine years. Basically, 14,000 people moved out of the city than moved in.
The economy in Upstate New York lags behind most of the nation, and more people than usual decided to take the leap and move on out. Basically, people are leaving because they are overtaxed, overregulated, and property costs are too high.