INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Census Bureau says Indiana’s population grew about 5% during the past decade to nearly 6.8 million residents and the state held onto its nine U.S. House seats.
Census data released Monday from the 2020 national headcount show that Indiana's population grew 4.7% between 2010 and 2020, from about 6.5 million residents in 2010 to 6.8 million in 2020, for a net gain of nearly 302,000 residents.
Indiana lost one seat after the 2000 count, but held onto its nine congressional seats in 2010 and now in 2020.
The 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are divided among the states based on population.
Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281 last year, the Census Bureau said, a 7.4% increase that was the second-slowest ever. Experts say that paltry pace reflects the combination of an aging population, slowing immigration and the scars of the Great Recession more than a decade ago, which led many young adults to delay marriage and families.
The following states had a change in congressional representation:
- California: Lost 1
- Colorado: Gained 1
- Florida: Gained 1
- Illinois: Lost 1
- Michigan: Lost 1
- Montana: Gained 1
- New York: Lost 1
- North Carolina: Gained 1
- Ohio: Lost 1
- Oregon: Gained 1
- Pennsylvania: Lost 1
- Texas: Gained 2
- West Virginia: Lost 1
The reshuffling of the congressional map moved seats from blue states to red ones, giving Republicans a clear, immediate advantage. The party will have complete control of drawing the congressional maps in Texas, Florida and North Carolina — states that are adding four seats.
In contrast, though Democrats control the process in Oregon, Democratic lawmakers there have agreed to give Republicans an equal say in redistricting in exchange for a commitment to stop blocking bills. In Democratic Colorado, a nonpartisan commission will draw the lines, meaning the party won’t have total control in a single expanding state’s redistricting.
The overall numbers confirm what demographers have long warned — that the country's growth is stalling. Many had expected growth to come in even below the 1930s levels given the long hangover of the Great Recession and the drying up of immigration, which came to a virtual halt during last year's pandemic.
The legal deadline for turning in the apportionment numbers was Dec. 31, but the Census Bureau pushed back that date to April because of challenges caused by the pandemic and the need for more time to correct not-unexpected irregularities.
More detailed figures will be released later this year showing populations by race, Hispanic origin, gender and housing at geographic levels as small as neighborhoods. This redistricting data will be used for redrawing precise congressional and legislative districts.
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