BATON ROUGE - Louisiana is one of only eight states to see a drop in overall population in 2017.

According to the latest US Census numbers, recorded in the span from July 2016 to July 2017, Louisiana's net population saw a net drop of 2,000 people. Overall, 27,515 people left the state in that year-long stretch versus its natural growth of 18,017.

Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming were the only other states to see an overall decrease in population.

On the other end of the spectrum, Idaho saw the biggest increase with a 2.2-percent population boom.

Louisiana is still the 25th-largest state with an estimated 4.68 million residents.