Sun Belt

The Sun Belt has seen substantial population growth post-World War II from an influx of people seeking a warm and sunny climate, a surge in retiring baby boomers, and growing economic opportunities.

[5] Additionally, 86 percent of the top 50 zip codes that saw the largest increases in new residents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.

For example, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research defines the Sun Belt as being south of 36°30′N latitude, which includes all of Arkansas, most of Oklahoma and virtually all of Tennessee (small parts of East and Middle Tennessee extend north of 36°30′ due to surveying errors) but leaves out most of Nevada and California, with only Southern California and parts of Nye County and the Las Vegas Valley being included.

[7] First employed by political analyst Kevin Phillips in his 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority,[8] the term "Sun Belt" became synonymous with the southern third of the nation in the early 1970s.

Factors such as the warmer climate, the migration of workers from Mexico, and a boom in the agriculture industry allowed the southern third of the United States to grow economically.

More recently, high tech and new economy industries have been major drivers of growth in California, Florida, Texas, and other parts of the Sun Belt.

Additionally, the traditional lure of cheaper labor markets in the region compared with America's older industrial centers has been eroded by overseas outsourcing trends.

[12] Communities in California are making plans to build multiple desalination plants to supply fresh water and avert near-term crises.

[13] Texas, Georgia, and Florida also face increasingly serious shortages because of their rapidly expanding populations and high per-capita water consumption.

Some endangered species live within the belt,[25][26] including: The five largest metropolitan statistical areas are Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami.