The Golden State is losing its sheen as a state of perpetual growth. Sure, it grew 10 percent. But that was its slowest growth in at least a century. And for the first time since 1920, California will not gain a congressional seat. (Figures from the decennial census are used to reapportion seats in the US House every 10 years.)
It will take more data to figure out what's behind California's slowdown. Was it recession? Or the housing crisis, which hit California especially hard? Or perhaps the crackdown on illegal immigrants?
One intriguing trend is that California and four of the five other states with the highest proportion of Hispanic residents saw their population growth rates fall faster than the US as a whole between the 1990s and 2000s. The exception was Texas, with the third-highest percentage of Hispanic residents. During the 2000s, it grew by 21 percent, which is nearly as strong as its 23 percent increase during the 1990s.
Which state has the most people per square mile?
