The small city of Clinton had 34,719 people back in the ‘70s, but today this figure is thought to be a little more than 25,000; this drop is the steepest this river town has experienced in 40 years.
Clinton isn’t the only city in Iowa dealing with a dwindling population, with Camanche, a much smaller town, following in as a close second.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is one city that seems cemented in the past; the first thing you notice is the city's deep segregation, with 1950s era diversity in the neighborhoods. You can also clearly see the economic inequality weaved into neighborhoods like yarn, so close in proximity yet so far in every other aspect.
Milwaukee might have an NBA franchise to call its own, but if people don't have jobs, they don't stick around for basketball games forever. Since the 1960s, Milwaukee has sadly had to say goodbye to 150,000 people.
Anaconda, Montana
While it might have one of the more exciting names in the US, Anaconda has seen its inhabitants decrease to fewer than 10,000. Anaconda may have once been a prominent city, but by 2000, the population had shrunk so much it was demoted to a town.
People are still fleeing Anaconda, with an environmental issue involving an arsenic spill leading residents to pack up and leave.
Baker City, Oregon
Baker City is known as the "Queen City of the Mines" at the turn of the 20th century; it was the first town established along the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon. As more and more people are crowding to Oregon, Oregon's cities proved to be a hotspot for people to relocate to, but Baker City isn't proving to be so popular.
There aren't many places in Oregon that are losing inhabitants, but the most significant decrease in the state was found in Baker City. This city lost 0.7% of its residents, with the residents seeking out somewhere else to settle down.
Hot Springs, South Dakota
Many people are looking to move as near to main cities as possible, which means smaller, more provincial towns like Hot Springs in South Dakota are encountering a difficult season. There has been a dramatic shift in population numbers in Hot Springs since 2000, with the city feeling a decline of 10% in 2010 and an additional 5% in 2018.
The cause for the reduction in residents is quite apparent when you compare these figures to the rise in South Dakota’s major cities' population.