f11photo/iStock(NEW YORK) — They say everything is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to the populations in some of their biggest cities, the Census Bureau seems to agree.
New population estimate data shows that two of the three metropolitan areas in the country that gained the greatest number of people were in Texas, and three Texas metropolitan areas were in the top 10 nationwide for most people added.
The growth in the Lone Star State is reflective of larger estimated net population increases in southern and western cities and states, coupled with population decreases in the northeast.
In keeping with that trend, the New York-Newark-Jersey City area had its first estimated population decrease in years, according to the Census Bureau information, losing slightly less than 20,000 residents between 2017 and 2018.
Other cities that had the most significant decreases in population were Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Pittsburgh.
The area that had the largest overall decrease was Puerto Rico, including numeric population decreases in every city on the island.
The island as a whole had a population decrease of 129,848 between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. That time frame includes when Hurricane Maria barreled into the island, causing thousands of deaths and the relocation of many residents.
One aspect of the new data that stood out to Sandra Johnson, a Census Bureau demographer, was that the country’s most populous cities were not the ones that experienced the most significant growth.
“Though no new metro areas moved into the top 10 largest areas, Phoenix, Seattle, Austin, and Orlando all experienced numeric increases in population since 2010, rivaling growth in areas with much larger populations. This trend is consistent with the overall growth we are seeing in the south and the west,” Johnson said in a statement.
Overall, the Census Bureau found there was a positive total net migration in 2018, which means that more people moved into the country than left. The Census Bureau called that gain “roughly equivalent” with the net migration that occurred in 2017.
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