It's an annual rite of passage in South Dakota.

Every year when winter hits, we ask ourselves, 'Why do we live here again?'.

Well, more and more people are asking.

In figures just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, South Dakota is the 17th fastest growing state in American. The population of the Mount Rushmore State grew by 8,124 from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017.

That increase puts South Dakota in the 0.5 to 2.0 percentage growth rate.

Census Map
U.S. Census Bureau
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Idaho is the fastest growing state, adding 2.2% over the last year. Nevada (+2%) was second, followed by Utah (+1.0%), the state of Washington, and Florida.

On the other end of the spectrum, eight states - including North Dakota - saw their population decline. The others are West Virginia, Hawaii, Alaska, Illinois, Wyoming, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

In terms of sheer numbers, Texas added the most new residents - nearly 400,000 - in the past 12 months, while Illinois dropped the most - more than 33,000.

Overall, the US population grew by 2.3 million or 0.72% during the same time period.

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