Many Americans moved out of the nation’s largest cities during the pandemic to live in suburbs in the southern part of the country, according to the U.S. Census.

New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago all have experienced significant population losses during the first year of the pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau reported March 24.

The New York metropolitan area, which saw an outflow of 385,455 people from 2020 to 2021, tops the list of big cities with the largest population decline.

That happened despite the region gaining new residents from abroad and its number of births outpacing deaths during that same time period.

The nation’s most populous city also has experienced an increase in shootings and has endured some high-profile crimes, including against Asian Americans. New York also had some of the U.S.’ strictest COVID-19 policies in place.

Phoenix, Arizona, received the most new residents. Its population grew from 1.4 million people in 2010 to 1.6 million in 2020, a rate of 11.2%, according to the Census Bureau. Phoenix grew at the fastest rate among America’s biggest cities, vaulting it ahead of Philadelphia to officially become the fifth-biggest city in the U.S. since the last census.

Population in the Dallas metropolitan area increased by 54,319 and Tampa, Florida, added 42,089 new residents.

“The patterns we’ve observed in domestic migration shifted in 2021,” Dr Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for estimates and projections in the bureau’s population division, said in a statement.

The Los Angeles area, which lost 204,776 people, placed second on the list.

LA also has seen an increase in crime, with the county sheriff reporting a 137% rise in crime in February over the same month in 2021.

Los Angeles also has had a controversial COVID-19 school-mask policy that was rescinded March 18.

It is closely followed by San Francisco, which was affected by a domestic migration loss of 128,870 people, and Chicago, which lost 106,897 residents.

In addition, other metropolitan areas, such as San Jose, California, Boston, Miami and Washington D.C. regions, also lost tens of thousands of residents.

While people are leaving costly, densely populated metropolitan centers, an increasing number of them are also migrating into suburbs or smaller towns, which offer a lower cost of living and a lifestyle change.

(SD-Agencies)