Pennsylvania has recorded a modest population increase in recent years, with most of the growth concentrated in the Southeast, including Delaware County, writes Mike D’Onofrio for Axios.
According to recent U.S. census data, the Philadelphia region accounted for over half of the Keystone State’s population growth between 2019 and 2023.
Of the nearly 200,000 new residents the commonwealth added during that period – a 1.5 percent increase over the previous five years – 102,000 settled in the Philadelphia region.
Delaware County grew by 2.2 percent during that period, increasing from a population of 563.5 thousand between 2014 and 2018 to 576.2 thousand in the past five years.
Montgomery County recorded the highest increase in the area at 5 percent, while Philadelphia proper gained the least at 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, over two dozen mostly rural counties saw their population decrease.
The primary driver of population growth in the state in recent years has been international migration, according to a report published this month by the bipartisan legislative state agency Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
The report also projects that the population in the state will have increased by just 1.6 percent by 2050.
Read more about the population increase and other changes in population in Axios.
