Emptying Areas of the United States, 1990-1995

Certain regions and places in the United States seem more prone to experience population loss. This study examines the geography of this “emptying” process based on 1990-1995 census data and presents maps which show county-level patterns of population change and several related components. The major emptying areas are the Great Plains, Western Corn Belt, Lower Mississippi Valley, Central Appalachia, and metropolitan centers in the Northeast. Population change is correlated with social and economic variables, characteristics shared by the 635 losing counties are examined, and profiles of the major losing areas are presented. Net outmigration emerges as the dominant problem, together with the inability to find a substitute for declining employment in agriculture and mining, or in the case of older metropolitan areas, to develop a new employment base.