CityLab Daily: 2018’s Jarring Population Trends

Survey says: The newest results from the U.S. Census's annual American Community Survey are out, and a few jarring population trends in 2018 are on CityLab's radar. The U.S. population gained immigrants at its slowest pace in a decade last year, with a net increase of just 200,000 people (New York Times). That’s a 70 percent drop from the year before. Meanwhile, the gap between the richest and poorest households in the U.S. is now the largest it’s been in 50 years (NPR).

There’s also some good news to glean from the survey: The percentage of people living in poverty nationwide has declined for the fifth consecutive year. In seven out of the 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the country—including Denver, D.C., and Los Angeles—the share of people living in poverty declined. None of the 25 largest metro areas saw an increase in their share of people living in poverty.