The U.S. Census Bureau has released new population projections for the next quarter-century, and the political implications are interesting, though not surprising. Based on the first table here
(in Microsoft Excel form; USA Today has part of it in HTML), these are the 10 states that are expected to be the biggest in 2030 and the fastest-growing in the 2000-30 period, with the 2000 population rank given in parentheses:
| Biggest | Fastest Growing | |
| 1 | California (1) | Nevada |
| 2 | Texas (2) | Arizona |
| 3 | Florida (4) | Florida |
| 4 | New York (3) | Texas |
| 5 | Illinois (5) | Utah |
| 6 | Pennsylvania (6) | Idaho |
| 7 | North Carolina (11) | North Carolina |
| 8 | Georgia (10) | Georgia |
| 9 | Ohio (7) | Washington |
| 10 | Arizona (20) | Oregon |
The eight fastest-growing states are all "red," as are the two states, North Carolina and Arizona, that are expected to move up into the top 10 (supplanting Michigan and New Jersey).
The Associated Press says this is bad news for the most liberal region in the country: "New England stands to lose about 20 percent of its congressional seats over the next quarter-century as political power follows population booms in the South and West." The fastest-growing New England state is New Hampshire, at No. 15, followed by Vermont (23), Maine (32), Massachusetts (33), Rhode Island (34) and Connecticut (38).
The second table in the Excel document shows that 52.4% of the nationwide population growth is expected to be in the South, 35.2% in the West, vs. just 7.4% in the Midwest and 5% in the Northeast. The one bright spot for "blue" states is that Pacific Coast states are expected to grow more than those in the Mountain West.
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