April 9, 2016
24/7 Wall Street
| April 9, 2016
Given reports that New Mexico has net-negative job growth, it should perhaps come as no surprise that the fastest-shrinking city in the country is in New Mexico.
A report from 24/7 Wall St. found that the statistical metropolitan area of Farmington, New Mexico is the fastest shrinking city in the country. Farmington was the only New Mexico city to make the list that recorded cities from 2010 to 2015.
According to the report, the population in Farmington has shrunk by 8.8 percent in the past five years. That is more than two percentage points more than second place, Pine Bluff, Arkansas with 6.38 percent.
Pine Bluff and Farmington are the only two cities with a population decrease of at least 5 percent. Farmingtons 8.8 percent was good for
The blog looked at the US Census Bureau’s 2015 estimates and compared them to the 2010 US census figures. They looked at population trends from July 2010 to July 2015 in 381 metropolitan statistical areas; New Mexico has four such areas.
The report states that “jobs are perhaps the most important driver of urban expansion”. This means that areas with fewer job opportunities are likely to be the ones to lose populations.
This makes an intuitive sense; If you can’t find a job in one city, you can move to another city with more job options.
Farmington has an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent.
One reason is that the region has been hit hard by falling oil and natural gas prices. San Juan County was largely dependent on oil and gas jobs and has had a higher unemployment rate than the entire state for years.
The report also mentioned that the area “has relatively high levels of violent crime and relatively low incomes”.
Both are cited as reasons why people would move and others would choose not to move to the area.
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