CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia lost 0.25 percent of its residents within the last year, the highest percentage drop in the nation according to estimates released Tuesday from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nearly 4,600 residents moved out of the state between July 2014 and July 2015. West Virginia was one of seven states to lose population, the report said.
Other states experiencing declines were Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico and Vermont. Illinois lost the most residents, 22,194.
Neighboring Virginia gained about 55,000 people.
West Virginia and Maine were the only states that experienced more deaths than births, the report noted. There were about 21,704 deaths and 20,764 births within the year in the Mountain State.
The fastest-growing state, North Dakota, saw a 2.2 percent increase. The most populous state was California with 39.1 million people.
About 102,400 people moved to North Carolina this year, pushing the number of residents past 10 million.