This is because, at the time, many military manufacturing jobs were moving from the Northeast U.S. When did the Sunbelt grow?Īlthough the term Sun Belt was not used until 1969, growth had been occurring in the southern U.S. The traditional explanations for the growth are increasing productivity in the South and increasing demand for Sunbelt amenities, especially its pleasant weather. Air conditioning, lower taxes and wages, desegregation, and weaker unions contributed to the postwar growth of the South. At the end of World War II, the South was the nation’s poorest region, with per capita income barely one-half of the national average.
