natchg.R

library(tidycensus)
library(tidyverse)
library(RColorBrewer)

natchg <- get_estimates(
  geography = "state",
  variables = "RNATURALCHG",
  vintage = 2024
)

custom_palette <- c(rev(brewer.pal(5, "Reds")), "#FFFFFF", brewer.pal(5, "Greens"))

max_abs_value <- max(abs(natchg$value))

ggplot(natchg, aes(x = reorder(NAME, value), y = value, fill = value)) +
  geom_col(width = 0.7) +
  geom_text(aes(label = NAME, 
                x = reorder(NAME, value),
                y = 0,
                hjust = ifelse(value >= 0, 1, 0)),
            size = 3, color = "black", nudge_y = ifelse(natchg$value >= 0, -0.05, 0.05)) +
  geom_text(aes(label = sprintf("%.2f", value), 
                hjust = ifelse(value >= 0, -0.1, 1.1)),
            size = 3, color = "black", position = position_dodge(0.7)) +
  coord_flip() +
  scale_fill_gradientn(colors = custom_palette, 
                       limits = c(-max_abs_value, max_abs_value)) +
  scale_y_continuous(limits = c(-max_abs_value - 0.5, max_abs_value + 0.5),
                     breaks = seq(-ceiling(max_abs_value), ceiling(max_abs_value), by = 1)) +
  labs(title = "Rate of Natural Change by State (2023-2024)",
       x = "",
       y = "Natural change (per 1000 residents)",
       caption = "2024 US Census Bureau Population Estimates | tidycensus R package") +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(legend.position = "none",
        panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
        panel.grid.minor.y = element_blank(),
        axis.text.y = element_blank(),
        axis.ticks.y = element_blank(),
        plot.title = element_text(face = "bold"),
        plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 9, color = "gray30"),
        plot.caption = element_text(size = 8, color = "gray50", hjust = 1)) +
  geom_vline(xintercept = 0, linetype = "dashed", color = "gray50")