Tuesday, May 30, 2017

City Population Growth, 2010 to 2016

Between 2010 and 2016, the population of the nation's 757 largest cities (incorporated places with populations of 50,000 or more in 2016) grew by an average of 6.0 percent. The remainder of the United States grew by a smaller 3.5 percent. City growth varies little by city size, with large cities of all sizes growing faster than elsewhere...

City population growth 2010-2016 by city size
1 million or more: 5.6%
500,000 to 999,999: 7.3%
250,000 to 499,999: 6.4%
200,000 to 249,999: 5.1%
150,000 to 199,999: 6.1%
100,000 to 149,999: 5.9%
50,000 to 99,999: 5.7%

A Demo Memo analysis of annual growth rates reveals slowing growth in the nation's largest cities. Among cities with populations of 50,000 or more, the growth rate since 2010 slowed from about 1 percent annually between 2010 and 2015 to a smaller 0.8 percent between 2015 and 2016. Widespread recovery from the Great Recession, which finally boosted household incomes in 2015, may be reducing the economic incentive to move to large cities. 

Source: Census Bureau, City and Town Population Totals Tables: 2010–2016

2 comments:

Silli said...

I looked at the methodology for these, but didn't totally understand it.They are based on annual housing estimates combined with 2010 occupancy rates and average household size, with estimated changes in group quarters thrown in. But where do the housing estimates come from?

Cheryl Russell said...

Here is the Census Bureau's description of its housing units estimates methodology...

https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/methodology/2010-2016/2016-hu-meth.pdf