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.
Clinton, Iowa
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.
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.
Warwick, Rhode Island
Rhode Island has always had a small population, but it made headlines in 2018 when it was reported there weren’t enough citizens to justify two House seats. An initiative to expand the state’s population began soon afterward, proposing a bill that grants new residents $10,000 in tax credits.
One of the cities worst afflicted by the drop in population was Warwick, which lost 2.2% of its inhabitants since 2010. For ten years, between 2000 and 2010, Warwick also lost another 3.7% of its population, with no recovery signs for this lonely city.
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas lies in the north-west Sulpher Springs Valley, with open, grassy lands, which made it the perfect area for many of the region's largest cattle ranchers. But in 2010, it had a population of 17,378, and in 2018, the figures had shrunk to 15,978.
As with all places, people just prefer bigger towns for their opportunities and better job prospects. Phoenix experienced a population influx of 14.8% during that same period, so it seems people in Arizona are searching for a taste of city living.