State Population Rank Over the Last Century

Vox:

• The center of population is moving to the Southwest. That's clear when you see it mapped, but this chart shows that, as well — there's no other way to explain the meteoric rise of Arizona.
• The Midwest lost its dominance during the 20th century — a lot of the most significant losses in ranking occur in that region, whether it's Iowa (which sank from 15th to 30th) or Nebraska (from 29th to 38th).
• The Northwest flourished. Though it's easy to characterize the 20th century as one of Southwestern dominance, the Northwest is often lost in the shuffle. But the ascendancies of Washington and Oregon show that it was a Western century, as well.

Arizona, what a bad idea.