Texas, Florida Lead Projected State Population Growth Through 2050
A WalletHub analysis comparing University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center 2050 projections with 2025 Census Bureau estimates finds Texas will add 10.4 million residents by 2050, the most of any state, while Illinois is projected to lose 1.4 million, the largest decline. Growth concentrates in the South and West, led by Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Washington, while the Midwest and Northeast, including Illinois, New York, California and Pennsylvania, are expected to shrink. The Weldon Cooper Center also projects adults 65 and older will reach 21.2% of the population by 2050, up from about 17% in 2020. Becker's Hospital Review frames these shifts as signals of future hospital capacity, workforce and demand pressures in fast-growing versus shrinking states.