The exodus out of Mississippi shows no signs of abating, according to Census estimates released today. Between July 2016 and July 2017, nearly 8,000 more people left the state than moved in, bringing the full outmigration tally since 2010 to 42,811.

In just seven years, Mississippi’s net brain drain has exceeded the population of all but five cities (Jackson, Gulfport, Southaven, Hattiesburg, Biloxi). The outflow has been persistent and exceptional: Mississippi has lost more people than we have attracted in each calendar year since 2010 despite being located in middle of the fastest-growing region in America. Aside from Louisiana, no other Southeastern state has experienced a net loss for even a single year over that period.

In each of the past three years, Mississippi’s total population has declined as people have left faster than they can be replenished through natural population growth (more births than deaths). Mississippi was one of just eight states to lose absolute population in 2016-17. Only two other states, Illinois and West Virginia, have shed population each year since 2014. During those three years, the United States has grown by 7 million people — 4 million of whom live in the South.