Recent population data suggests population growth is happening across the Midwest:

Only one region of the country, the Midwest, saw every one of its states gain population between July 2024 and July 2025. The Midwest population has grown steadily each year since 2023, including slight gains in what the Census Bureau calls “natural change” ‒ births minus deaths.

Marc Perry, a senior demographer for the Census Bureau, said for the first time in the 2020s, the Midwest saw net positive domestic migration ‒ more people moving to the region from elsewhere within the United States, a “notable turnaround” from population losses in 2021-2022.

A region that has had population loss in a number of cities. A region with lots of lost industrial activity and jobs. A region used to decline so why not experiment?

The population gains are modest: the population increase was several hundred thousand across the entire region. But what if that continued for a few more years? What if other populous states lose people and the Midwest slowly gains?

Of course, it would be interesting to know why the Midwest has grown in the last few years. Business activity? Cheaper housing compared to other locations? A particular lifestyle? It’s not the warmth and sunshine.