Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why does Indy, Wisc, SC lag behind its neighbhors in population?
Indiana is nestled between Illinois with its 12mil+ (mainly due to Chicagoland), Michigan with its 10mil+, and Ohio with its 11mil+. Indiana has only 6mil+ people according to wiki. You would think with the gutting of the domestic auto industry Michigan would falter but it still one of the most populated states. Michigan is top ten. Ohio and Indiana ought to be similar in landscape. What does Ohio offer that Indiana does not have? They both only have access to the St Lawrence seaway.
Wisconsin is even less than Indiana. Wisconsin has a lot of access to the lakes. I know its cold, but so is Michigan, and Michigan lost its main industry. South Carolina is nestled between NC, and Georgia. Both are 10mil+ while SC is 5mil+. Why is this?
Why does Indy, Wisc, SC lag behind its neighbhors in population?
Indiana is nestled between Illinois with its 12mil+ (mainly due to Chicagoland), Michigan with its 10mil+, and Ohio with its 11mil+. Indiana has only 6mil+ people according to wiki. You would think with the gutting of the domestic auto industry Michigan would falter but it still one of the most populated states. Michigan is top ten. Ohio and Indiana ought to be similar in landscape. What does Ohio offer that Indiana does not have? They both only have access to the St Lawrence seaway.
Quote:
Wisconsin is even less than Indiana. Wisconsin has a lot of access to the lakes. I know its cold, but so is Michigan, and Michigan lost its main industry. South Carolina is nestled between NC, and Georgia. Both are 10mil+ while SC is 5mil+. Why is this?
These are some concerning misconceptions that I think need to be addressed. You are functioning on a very outdated stereotype with a clear disconnect from the actual state of things. If these statements were accurate both Indiana and Wisconsin very well could be more populated than Michigan. I'd definitely recommend doing your own research on the topic vs. rely on a 35+ year old stereotype.
The auto industry has had to go through some transitional periods over the years, but it has never been gutted. To date it is more healthy and nimble than it ever has been. Michigan remains the epicenter of that industry globally. What Michigan lost was a large portion of it's manufacturing workforce during the 1970s and 1980s. During that time cars went from being big machines to basically smartphones on wheels. The work being done in Detroit today is the development of all of that technology and software that makes up the modern automobile. Every automaker has some type of major R&D operation in southeast michigan including both European and Asian companies. That doesn't even count the dozens of multi-billion $ sub tier suppliers that headquarter themselves there as well. Detroit transitioned from a manufacturing economy to an R&D economy. It replaced a largely uneducated workforce with a more educated one. It's also the reason why Michigan's population has remained relatively stable over the years. That doesn't count the other industries in the state as well, automotive only accounts for around 25% of Michigan's economy in 2022.
Michigan may have stagnated through this transition but there's not 5 million people walking around the state like zombies unemployed lol. It is still the epicenter of a multi-trillion $ global industry. There's a reason Detroit is the busiest gateway to Asia east of the Mississippi river.
Last edited by Landolakes90; 09-21-2022 at 12:59 PM..
Indiana is an easy answer, outside of Indianapolis and cities on the northern edge the state has largely been an agricultural state with very little of the Rust Belt economy that drove population growth in neighboring Illinois or Ohio. It ranks 38th in land mass and 22nd in population with the Indianapolis MSA taking 1/4 of the overall total population, leaving a lot of low-density areas that still largely function as agricultural, like my grandfather's 3000-acre farm in the south-central section of the state.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,473,841 times
Reputation: 12187
Indiana had near misses on having two large Ohio River metro areas within the state rather than merely have peripheral suburbs for Cincinnati and Louisville. Those two alone are a net loss of a couple million people that results in almost leveling gap with Ohio. (gap narrows to 8 mil vs 9 mil.
South Carolina has a much smaller land area than NC or GA. It's actually quite dense despite no counties over 600k. SC population density per sq miles is 153, GA is 186, NC is at 213. SC is far closer to it's neighbors in density than similarly populated states like KY (43) or AL (37)
Indiana had near misses on having two large Ohio River metro areas within the state rather than merely have peripheral suburbs for Cincinnati and Louisville. Those two alone are a net loss of a couple million people that results in almost leveling gap with Ohio. (gap narrows to 8 mil vs 9 mil.
South Carolina has a much smaller land area than NC or GA. It's actually quite dense despite no counties over 600k. SC population density per sq miles is 153, GA is 186, NC is at 213. SC is far closer to it's neighbors in density than similarly populated states like KY (43) or AL (37)
Adding onto this - Georgia's population is VERY skew just bc how big Atlanta metro area is. Literally 50+% of the state population lives there.
Same apply for Illinois - throw Chicago out and the number of people and density in downstate is not too different from Indiana.
Ohio and NC are similar - it simply has multiple mid-size metros which prop up the population. As you said - if Louisville was built north of the river the difference in population between IN and OH/IL would be reduced somewhat.
. You would think with the gutting of the domestic auto industry Michigan would falter but it still one of the most populated states. Michigan is top ten.
The auto industry in located in southeast Michigan. The rest of Michigan is not dependent on the auto industry.
I don’t think Wisconsin does. It just kinda lays on the western edge of the industrial midwest. It has more people than Iowa and Minnesota, less than Illinois and Michigan.
Indiana had near misses on having two large Ohio River metro areas within the state rather than merely have peripheral suburbs for Cincinnati and Louisville. Those two alone are a net loss of a couple million people that results in almost leveling gap with Ohio. (gap narrows to 8 mil vs 9 mil.
South Carolina has a much smaller land area than NC or GA. It's actually quite dense despite no counties over 600k. SC population density per sq miles is 153, GA is 186, NC is at 213. SC is far closer to it's neighbors in density than similarly populated states like KY (43) or AL (37)
SC's definitely denser than KY and AL, but those numbers are a bit off. KY's is about 114 and AL's is about 99. I think you might've put in sq km, but the numbers would still be slightly off.
NC has always had a larger population than SC, going back to the very first 1790 Census and GA's population surpassed SC's in 1840. From a modern historical perspective, the 1950 Census was the first where NC's population was twice SC's but it wasn't until 2000 that the same became true of GA.
Why is Wisconsin’s population lower than Michigan? The answer: 5 counties in southeast Michigan. Remove those counties and Michigan and Wisconsin are identical. One big city makes a big difference.
It’s all Henry Fords doing
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
