They won’t be taking away any of the Bay State’s House seats this time around.
Ten years after Massachusetts lost a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, state election officials on Monday learned the Bay State will be retaining all nine districts.
The U.S. Census Bureau also announced that Massachusetts’ population has now climbed above 7 million. The state’s total population of 7,029,917 is a 7.4% increase from 2010, which mirrors the U.S. population growth during the last decade.
The state’s population growth of 482,288 appears to be primarily concentrated in eastern Massachusetts, according to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.
“We were relieved to receive the word today that we will keep nine seats in Congress,” Galvin said in a press conference outside the State House on Monday.
“However, having said that, there have been shifts within the state,” he added, saying the districts will need to be redrawn later this year ahead of the 2022 congressional elections.
The average number of residents in each of the nine districts is expected to be 781,102 after the districts are redrawn.
There are significant population differences between House districts as they are currently drawn, including lower population estimates in western Massachusetts, central Massachusetts and on Cape Cod.
“The Legislature in redrawing these districts will have to transfer population from the eastern Mass. districts to the western Mass. districts and the central Mass. districts,” Galvin said. “That is going to be challenging.”
All of the other New England states will also be retaining their House seats for the next decade: New Hampshire (2 seats); Rhode Island (2); Connecticut (5); Maine (2); and Vermont (1). The Northeast grew 4.1% during the last decade.
Six states will be gaining seats: Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon and Montana. Meanwhile, seven states will be losing seats: New York, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and West Virginia.
Texas will be the only state gaining two seats. It has had the highest population increase since 2010 — up nearly 4 million people to 29.1 million. The most populous state remains California, which now has a population of 39.5 million.
The U.S. population is now 331.4 million, a jump of 22.7 million from 308.7 million in 2010.
The Census Bureau will provide states with the local population counts needed to redraw their congressional districts by Sept. 30.
Galvin discussed the challenges of redistricting.
“The geography of Massachusetts makes it extremely difficult to transfer populations from the east to the west,” he said. “In the past, it was possible to draw long and snaking districts. You can’t do that anymore, and you shouldn’t do that.”
“We also have to make sure we preserve the minority-majority district that’s located in eastern Massachusetts,” Galvin said of the 7th District, which is held by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley. “This is going to be a very challenging process to try to make sure that each of the nine districts is equally populated.”
