North Carolina is such a beautiful state, known for its gorgeous weather as well as some of the nicest neighbors around, so why are there those who leave Rocky Mount while others are flocking to this state? In the last eight years, the state’s population ballooned by 8.5%.
But Rocky Mount residents were more likely than other residents across the state to struggle financially, so of course, who could blame them for saying their goodbyes and clearing out to another town?
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.
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw may be a funny name for a city, but their population decline is no laughing matter! With a reported 4.5% fall in population over the last ten years, it's one of Michigan's largest declines. As we all know, crime can considerably diminish the quality of life in any city.
It goes without saying that crime goes hand in hand with poverty, so the best way to reduce crime is to provide more employment opportunities, with decent wages.
Elmira, New York
The vast majority of the people in Upstate NY live in smaller cities, take Elmira as an example, where even a small decline is profoundly felt. After losing a net of 4,644 residents, Elmira's population is 5% smaller now than in 2010.
There are the everyday burdens we all face, and then there are those burdens those in Elmira and to deal with. Since 2018, there were 2,424 fewer jobs in Elmira and the area's unemployment rate of 4.5% is well above the 3.9% national unemployment rate.