San Jose, the Bay Area's largest city, has dropped out of the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. by population, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
San Jose long stood at the No. 10 spot with just under 1 million residents, but it is now the 12th largest city in the nation.
According to the Census Bureau, as of July 2022, the top five largest cities in the U.S. are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix. Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, moved up and pushed out San Jose, whose population stands at 971,233.
That's a 1% drop from the previous year and a more than 4% drop since April 2020, census data shows.
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"To me, it's a warning sign. We've seen the polling data prior to the pandemic. There was a lot of frustration," said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
Some people in San Jose have said that they have been fed up with homelessness, crime and blight. While other people said they are looking for more affordable areas.
“San Jose has always been challenged fiscally because we’re such a residential heavy city. More residents means higher cost of services. It’s our employment land such as downtown and north San Jose where we generate most of our tax revenue to provide those services,” Mahan said.
On a broader scale, The Bay Area Council said the lower cost of living in other states and the rise of remote work are the top reasons people are moving away. And that will make it all the more challenging for the Bay Area to bring them back.
“All of these cities, they are dependent on economic activity. You can draw a pretty straight line between population growth and economic growth across the country,” said Jeff Bellisario, Executive Director of the Bay Area Council Economic.
Meanwhile, San Francisco is ranked 17th with a population of 808,444, about a half-percent drop from the previous year before.
But there was one very notable exception.
Santa Cruz Is booming. The census data shows it’s the second fastest growing city in America, adding 7,000 new residents in the last two years. Including, some of those workers looking for something outside the Bay Area.
So, where are those people going? No surprise: Texas and Florida. Both states have lower taxes and depending on where you are looking cheaper housing.
