The 100 Million Dollar Map Series: US Population Change last 2 years

Having a 100 Million Dollar Map (or several of them) to guide your business, provides knowledge of what is going on in the market. One core metric is population change. The series of maps below show the 10 most populated metros in the US, and is pretty sobering, unless you live in Dallas. Its a breakdown, mile by mile, showing where populations are increasing (green), decreasing (red), or staying about the same (grey). Any of you "locals" in a market shown below, feel free to comment on what you know or think is going on, and what you see in these maps.

GREEN = Growth | RED = Loss | GREY = Same

1.New York - Wow, the big apple is clearly a dark red apple - even hipster Brooklyn is red, losing population. Downtown Manhattan still shows growth, mostly condo living; Long Island, you are staying about the same as you were 2 years ago. Any comments on the green area in Jersey?

2. Los Angeles. This one is pretty painful for any of us who have called LA home. Again like the Big Apple, the only modest area of growth in LA county is downtown condo hipster living; however, look at the shift to the east, into the inland empire, green, growing and healthy (just pray for more rain).

3. Chicago. Similar story, just like New York and Los Angeles: Condo-living growth downtown, but decline in most of the rest of this market. We have all been reading the market story in the news about migration out of the larger metros, and these images tell that story. Hey Chicago - my data says Illinois is negative in population growth, at -.03% annually. Why aren't we west coasters hearing about this, are you aware of this loss, and what is accounting for it?

4. Dallas. And then there's Dallas. Those light red areas are most likely gentrification (a family of 5 becomes a family of 4 as their oldest leaves home (and probably moves into a condo downtown). But look at all that dark dark green. Super healthy, well-done Dallas!

5. Houston. Hmmm... well I find this one a bit interesting. We see the huge dark green growth we hear about in Texas, mostly to the west, but that dark spot of red looks like more than just gentrification. Hey anyone from Houston, go ahead and comment on what you think is going on here.

6. Washington DC. Our nation's capital - shows a contrast east (contracting) and west (growing). I don't think DC itself could ever reduce anything, but there is clearly a growing shift in population to the Virginia side. Locals, why is this?

7. Philadelphia. I find this a pretty interesting look - Philadelphia shows a lot of no-growth grey which is better than red, but looks like the hipsters are moving into a growing population of downtown condos.

8. Miami. If I were to zoom out and show you the full state of Florida, most of it would be blindingly dark green with growth; and while this red isn't dense red, its almost the only red area in the state.

9. Atlanta. Overall, Atlanta is a full growth market; the light red is certainly gentrification. But I have to admit, I expected it to be much "greener" than it is.

10. Boston. Boston seems to be one of the overall healthiest cities in the Northeast - no areas of major decline, and a strongly growing city core (looks like Philly, huh).

If any of you want me to tee up a market or two of your choice in a future post, feel free to mention those in the comments (as you are giving this a thumbs up).

GeoStrategies can identify top areas and clusters of market potential for any industry and company, anywhere in the US. Our market mapping support can start small and grow into investment-grade mapping as a company grows or the requirements of financial sponsors are elevated. All of the maps are available online, on our mapping platform, Epiphany Analytics.

To schedule a review of GeoStrategies' support and optimization for your company, or to schedule a corporate event or a Vistage Talk, contact Carl Schroeder, [email protected], 805.279.9540

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