BUFFALO - Upstate New York continues to shrink.
Estimates from the US Census Bureau have Upstate losing 73-thousand people since 2010. It largely the same story in western New York.
Of the eight counties that make up the region, all but one has lost population. The exception is Erie County, which managed to eek out population growth of 0.2%.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says that thanks to an influx of immigrants.
“The immigration wave to Erie County and western New York has been a boon for us in regards to stabilizing our population,” says Poloncarz.
Census data suggests 23,465 people have arrived in western New York in the last six-years. They come from points all around the globe. Most are from the Middles East, Africa and Asia.
Immigrants and refugees offset what demographers call "domestic migration", people native to the region who leave. But will western New York be able to continue to depend on immigrants and refugees to bolster the population?