The U.S. population keeps shifting to the West and South: as of July 1, 61.6 percent of Americans lived in those two regions, the Census Bureau reported this week. That's up from 60.4 percent in the 2010 census, 58.1 percent in 2000, 55.6 percent in 1990 -- and 44 percent in 1950.
Some of that population shift can be chalked up to southern and western states having a wider margin of births over deaths than their neighbors to the north and east -- which makes sense given that the median age is higher in the Midwest and Northeast. Immigration from abroad is a mixed bag. There's been more of it (relative to overall population) in the South and West than the Midwest since 2010, but the Northeast has seen the highest immigration rate of all.
