City Growth by Size

The more urban the county, the greater the population growth during the 2010 to 2012 time period, according to an analysis of the Census Bureau's county population estimates by county rank on the Rural-Urban Continuum. But what about population change in cities themselves?

An analysis of population change in the nation's 726 largest cities (incorporated places with populations of 50,000 or more) reveals growth to be uniform regardless of city size. Overall, the populations of large cities grew 2.1 percent between 2010 and 2012. This was nearly double the 1.1 percent growth outside these cities. By size of city, growth looked like this...

City population change 2010-2012 by city size
1 million or more: 2.0%
500,000 to 999,999: 2.5%
250,000 to 499,999: 2.0%
200,000 to 249,999: 2.3%
150,000 to 199,999: 1.8%
100,000 to 149,999: 2.2%
50,000 to 99,999: 1.9%

Of the 726 largest cities, only 70 lost population between 2010 and 2012.

Source: Census Bureau, City and Town Totals: Vintage 2012