The 10 Richest Cities in New York in 2026
New York State's wealthiest cities are not in New York City. They are in the suburbs surrounding it, concentrated almost entirely in Westchester County to the north and Nassau County...
JUNE 29, 2026 · 6 MIN
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The Most Affordable Counties Where Incomes Are Rising
Where can you still buy a house and watch your paycheck grow? We screened Census data for counties that are both cheap and gaining income, from the Texas border to metro-adjacent counties near St. Louis, Louisville, and Kansas City.
JUNE 28, 2026 · 5 MIN
The Most Common Last Names in America
Smith leads by a wide margin, and the racial composition under the top names records emancipation, Hispanic surnames surging into the top fifteen, and Lee bridging Asian and other origins.
JUNE 27, 2026 · 6 MIN
The Fastest-Shrinking Cities in America
The fastest-shrinking large cities split into two very different stories: people priced out of the expensive coasts, and the long structural decline of the South and Midwest. Here is why you shouldn't read them as the same trend.
JUNE 26, 2026 · 5 MIN
The Most Segregated Metros in America
A White /non-White dissimilarity score, computed from 2020 to 2024 Census data, ranks America's most segregated large metros. Milwaukee leads, and the industrial Midwest and Northeast dominate the list for reasons rooted in 20th-century policy.
JUNE 25, 2026 · 6 MIN
Which State Has the Largest Population? All 50 States Ranked
California is still the largest U.S. state with 39,287,377 people, but it lost population in the latest estimate while Texas grows fast and closes the gap. Here is the full ranking from largest to smallest.
JUNE 24, 2026 · 5 MIN
Median Household Income by County: The Highest and Lowest in America
The richest county in America has a median household income nearly five times the poorest. Here's the full top and bottom of the list, and what the geography shows.
JUNE 23, 2026 · 6 MIN
How Big Was America? US Population in 1900, 1945, 1990, and Today
From 76 million in 1900 to nearly 335 million today, the US grew more than fourfold. We walk the milestones and explain what era each number marks.
JUNE 22, 2026 · 5 MIN
Which States Will Grow the Most by 2050?
Nobody can pin a 2050 population number for any single state. So we do the honest thing: take today's growth rates, assume they roughly hold, and follow the line. The Sun Belt and Mountain West keep climbing while parts of the Northeast and Midwest keep sliding.
JUNE 21, 2026 · 6 MIN
Why Is the Census Taken Every 10 Years?
The decade-long census cycle isn't tradition, it's a constitutional rule. Here's the apportionment reason behind it, the history, and why ten years is the interval where fairness and feasibility meet.
JUNE 20, 2026 · 5 MIN
How the Rust Belt Lost Its Factory Jobs
American manufacturing employment peaked at around 19.5 million jobs in 1979 and fell by roughly a third over the next four decades. The Census record shows where those losses landed: a band of industrial cities from Buffalo to Gary that lost between a sixth and nearly half of their residents.
JUNE 19, 2026 · 11 MIN
Before You Move to Phoenix: What the Census Data Says
Phoenix added more than 650,000 residents since 1990 and is closing in on 1.7 million, which makes it the fastest-growing large city in the country. Before you join them, the Census data has a few things to tell you about incomes, housing, and the heat that the brochures leave out.
JUNE 18, 2026 · 10 MIN
The Most Affordable Mid-Size Cities to Buy a Home in 2026
In the most affordable mid-size city in the country, the typical home costs about 2.3 times the typical household income. In the most expensive metros that multiple runs past ten. Here are the real cities where a normal salary still buys a house, and what the Census data says about each one.
JUNE 17, 2026 · 9 MIN
How Detroit Lost Half Its Population, and Why It Is Finally Growing Again
Detroit had more than a million residents in 1990 and 1.85 million at its 1950 peak. By 2024 it had fallen to 638,000, one of the steepest urban declines in American history. But the latest Census numbers show something that has not happened in 70 years: the population went up.
JUNE 16, 2026 · 11 MIN
The Most Diverse Cities in America in 2026
The most racially diverse cities in the country are not the famous big ones. They are mid-sized suburbs and satellite cities near Seattle, San Francisco, and New York, where no single racial group comes close to a majority and the odds that two random residents share a background are almost a coin flip.
JUNE 15, 2026 · 8 MIN
The Richest Counties in America in 2026
The wealthiest county in the country sits in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, where the median household earns more than $181,000 a year. The rest of the top of the list clusters in three places: the DC commuter belt, the San Francisco Bay Area, and a short list of outliers built around one big employer.
JUNE 14, 2026 · 9 MIN
The Most Educated Cities in America
In the most educated residential city in the country, more than nine of every ten adults hold a bachelor's degree, roughly triple the national rate. The places where that is true form a tight pattern: wealthy suburbs of New York, Boston, Dallas, and the Bay Area, plus a few college towns where almost everyone is a student or a professor.
JUNE 13, 2026 · 8 MIN
How Florida's Population Changed Since 1990
Florida has added more than 9.4 million residents since 1990, growing from 12.9 million to 22.4 million. It passed New York to become the third most populous state in 2014 and has not slowed down...
JUNE 12, 2026 · 6 MIN
Which Cities Have Become Less Diverse Since 2000?
The United States as a whole has become steadily more diverse since 2000. But a handful of individual cities have moved in the opposite direction, becoming less diverse rather than more. The mechanism is almost always the same: gentrification...
JUNE 11, 2026 · 6 MIN
Atlanta vs. Charlotte: The Southeast's Two Biggest Growth Stories
Atlanta and Charlotte are the two cities that defined the Southeast's rise as an economic region over the past 35 years. Both started the 1990s as mid-sized Southern cities with regional profiles and have grown into nationally significant metros with Fortune 500 headquarters, major financial sectors, and...
JUNE 10, 2026 · 6 MIN