7 U.S. big cities have lost half of their populations: 24/7 Wall St.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Seven U.S. cities once among the country's biggest metropolises "have become shadows of their former selves," as they have lost more than half of their populations, U.S. news portal 24/7 Wall St. reported Sunday.

The seven "very well known" cities are Flint, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, St. Louis, and Detroit, the news outlet said, after it compared historical editions of the U.S. Census Bureau's decennial census, starting with 1950, to the recent population figures.

"We listed all seven cities that were within the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. in 1950 and have lost more than half of their populations as of July 2021," it said.

Reasons for population decline in these cities are various, including job losses, housing discrimination, and racial economic inequality, the media said.

The remaining residents in these cities "are more likely to struggle to find work and live in poverty," the report said, adding that some cities are among the hardest-hit areas in the ongoing opioid epidemic.