St. Bernard and Orleans, two Louisiana parishes hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, were the nation’s fastest-growing counties in 2007, according to population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top 10 Counties in Population Growth St. Bernard — the nation’s fastest-losing county from 2005 to 2006 — experienced a 42.9 percent population increase between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, upping its population by almost 6,000. Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent, or nearly 29,000.
According to the estimates, all but one of the nation’s 10 fastest-growing counties were located in the South or West, with Pinal, Ariz. (near Phoenix) ranking third at 11.5 percent; Kendall, Ill. (in the Chicago area) fourth at 10.6 percent; Rockwall, Texas (in the Dallas area) fifth at 8.2 percent; Flagler, Fla. (between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville) sixth at 7.2 percent; and Union, N.C. (near Charlotte) seventh at 7.2 percent. Rounding out the list were three Georgia counties: Forsyth (7.2 percent), Paulding (6.7 percent) and Jackson (6.7 percent). Forsyth and Paulding are in the Atlanta metro area, with Jackson bordering on Athens-Clarke County.
Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix) was the top numerical gainer, increasing by 102,000 people between 2006 and 2007. Among the 10 counties that added the largest number of residents between 2006 and 2007, half were in Texas (Harris, Tarrant, Bexar, Collin and Travis), two in North Carolina (Wake and Mecklenburg), and one each in California (Riverside) and Nevada (Clark).
* Seventy of the 100 fastest-growing counties were in the South, with 22 in the West and eight in the Midwest.
* Among the 100 fastest-growing counties, more than one-third were in either Georgia (18) or Texas (16).
* Texas was home to 11 counties among the 25 with the highest numerical gains. Each of the top 25 was in the South or West.
2000-2007:
* The fastest-growing county was Kendall, Ill., with a population growth of 77.5 percent from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2007. Kendall edged out Flagler, Fla. (77.4 percent). Rounding out the top 10 were Rockwall, Texas (71.3 percent); Pinal, Ariz. (66.5 percent); Loudoun, Va. (64.4 percent); Forsyth, Ga. (61.5 percent); Paulding, Ga. (56.7 percent); Lincoln, S.D. (56.4 percent); Henry, Ga. (55.9 percent); and Newton, Ga. (54.9 percent).
* Maricopa County, Ariz., had the largest numeric increase from 2000 to 2007, adding 808,000 residents. Harris, Texas (535,000); Riverside, Calif. (528,000); Clark, Nev. (461,000); and Los Angeles, Calif. (359,000) followed. Texas was the home to nine of the top 25 numeric gainers, and California to six.
* Ten counties gained more than 200,000 residents from 2000 to 2007.
* Among Puerto Rico municipios, Toa Alta experienced the largest numerical gain (16,000), with Florida having the highest rate of increase (26.2 percent).
Atlanta metro area gained 890,000 residents from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2006, the largest numerical gain of the nation’s 361 metro areas.
This Georgia metro area (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta) was the nation’s ninth largest as of July 1, 2006 with a population of 5.1 million. Overall, six metro areas each gained at least 500,000 people between 2000 and 2006.
Dallas-Fort Worth had the second largest numeric increase at 842,000, and totaled about 6 million people. Houston (with an increase of 825,000), Phoenix (787,000) and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (771,000) rounded out the top five metro area gainers over the time period. The five metro areas experiencing the greatest numeric change between 2000 and 2006 were in the South or West.
The Northeast metro area with the greatest numeric change between 2000 and 2006 was New York (seventh overall nationally), while the Midwest metro area with the greatest numeric change over the same period was Chicago (10th overall nationally).
New York was the most populous metro area on July 1, 2006, with 18.8 million people, followed by Los Angeles (13 million) and Chicago (9.5 million). Fourteen metro areas had populations of 4 million or more.
Nevada returned to the top as the nation’s fastest-growing state, with a population increase of 2.9 percent between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Arizona, fastest-growing between 2005 and 2006, slipped to second place.
Meanwhile, Louisiana began to rebound from its post-Hurricane Katrina population loss, gaining nearly 50,000 people from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, for a total population of 4.3 million. The state lost 250,000 residents during the previous one-year period. Texas gained more people than any other state: Its 2006-2007 increase of almost 500,000 was ahead of runner-up California, which added slightly more than 300,000.
California remains the most populous state with about 37 million people.
The Census Bureau also released a population estimate for Puerto Rico, which was 3.9 million on July 1, 2007.
Los Angeles, Calif., remained the most populous county, with a July 1, 2007, population of 9.9 million, a decline of 2,000 residents from 2006.St. Bernard — the nation’s fastest-losing county from 2005 to 2006 — experienced a 42.9 percent population increase between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, upping its population by almost 6,000. Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent, or nearly 29,000.
Elk Grove, California had the fastest growth rate of any large city (100,000 or more population) in the nation. Cities with the fastest growth rate were located in California, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada.
According the census bureau, March 2008;
Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area. Three other Texas areas — Houston, Austin and San Antonio — also ranked in the top 10.
Atlanta saw the second-largest population jump with just over 151,000 new residents. Phoenix was third with more than 132,000, and was followed by Houston, Riverside, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas and San Antonio.
Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South and 20 were in the West. Two were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast.
Detroit lost more than three times as many people as any other metro area — its population declined more than 27,300. Other areas losing more than 5,000 people were Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Ga., Youngstown, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y.
Experts credit much of the growth in the South to relatively strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the U.S.
16 percent of Americans who moved to other states between July 2006 and July 2007 came to Texas, which led the nation for the second straight year in that category.
Home prices continue to be a big factor. A report earlier this month by Global Insight found that housing prices in the Dallas area were undervalued by as much as 30 percent.
The New Orleans area, recovering from Hurricane Katrina, grew by 4 percent or nearly 40,000 people, putting it 16th in terms of raw numbers but eighth for percentage growth. During the same survey last year, the population of New Orleans dropped by nearly 290,000 people.
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