BUSINESSAXIOS
What the 10 fastest-shrinking cities say about America
Over 600 U.S. cities with 20,000+ residents lost population between 2020 and 2025, with Big Spring, Texas, experiencing the steepest 15.3% decline. Shrinking cities face poverty, aging infrastructure, and limited job growth, often in majority-Black Southern communities or legacy industrial Midwest towns.
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Adjacent reporting
- Midsized cities’ population steady as national growth slows: Census
- North Texas dominates in population growth as big blue cities fail to recover to pre-pandemic levels
- The hottest housing market in the US is a hardscrabble city that’s been shrinking for 75 years
- San Francisco still hasnt recovered since pandemic exodus: report
- Why L.A. is struggling while San Francisco is beginning to boom again
- New York City lost residents across all income levels last year, study finds