EMBARGOED UNTIL: 6 P.M. EST, MARCH 17, 1998 (TUESDAY) Public Information Office CB98-41 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov David Rain/Marc Perry 301-457-2419 Fastest-Growing Counties Predominantly Southern, Western and Metropolitan, Census Bureau Reports The nation's fastest-growing counties are located in the South and West and in metropolitan rather than nonmetropolitan areas, according to 1997 population estimates for the country's 3,142 counties released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The Internet address to access the tabulations is http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/countypop.html. "The county-level growth patterns suggest that the population is continuing to spread outward from established metropolitan-area cores," according to Census Bureau geographer David Rain. "The result in some cases is a 'donut' pattern of growth." Reinforcing this pattern is the fact that nonmetropolitan counties on the outskirts of metropolitan areas grew faster than nonmetropolitan counties in more remote locations. On average, nonmetropolitan counties located 25 miles or less from a metropolitan area grew by 0.7 percent, while nonmetropolitan counties located more than 25 miles from a metropolitan area experienced slight population downturns (-0.1 percent) from 1996 to 1997. Metropolitan counties, as a whole, grew by 1.3 percent between 1996 and 1997, roughly two and a half times the rate of 0.5 percent for nonmetropolitan counties and higher than the national growth rate of 0.9 percent. The core counties in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 1 million grew by 1.2 percent between 1996 and 1997, while outlying counties in those same large metropolitan areas increased by 2.6 percent. Of the nation's 2,420 counties with at least 10,000 people in 1997, three of the 10 fastest- growing are located in Colorado, another three are in northern Georgia, and all 10 are within or border on metropolitan areas. Douglas County, south of Denver and part of the Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo. Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA), was the fastest-growing county with at least 10,000 population, increasing by 12.9 percent from 1996 to 1997 and 109.1 percent since 1990. Park and Elbert counties, both neighboring the Denver-Boulder-Greeley CMSA, ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, in percent of population growth between 1996 and 1997. Lincoln County, in the Sioux Falls, S.D. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), ranked second, while Forsythe, Paulding, and Henry counties, all in the Atlanta, Ga. MSA, ranked third, seventh and ninth. Nye County, in the Las Vegas, Nev.-Ariz. MSA, ranked fifth; Loudoun County, Va., in the Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. CMSA, was eighth; and Collin County, in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas CMSA, was 10th. Ten Fastest-Growing Counties with 10,000 or More Persons in 1997, Percent Population Growth 1996-1997 Rank County State Percent Increase 1 Douglas Colo. 12.9 2 Lincoln S.D. 9.9 3 Forsyth Ga. 9.5 4 Park Colo. 8.9 5 Nye Nev. 8.3 6 Elbert Colo. 8.0 7 Paulding Ga. 7.7 8 Loudoun Va. 7.7 9 Henry Ga. 7.5 10 Collin Texas 7.5 In general, the fastest-growing one-fifth of U.S. counties were primarily in the South (56 percent) and West (24 percent). Nineteen percent were in the Midwest and only 1 percent were in the Northeast. By contrast, of the slowest-growing and declining one-fifth of U.S. counties, 87 percent are nonmetropolitan and 53 percent are located in the Northeast and Midwest, with many concentrated in the Great Plains and Appalachia. Four of the 10 counties with the largest numerical population gains between 1996 and 1997 were in California (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside), three were in Texas (Harris, Dallas and Collin) and Nevada (Clark) and Florida (Broward) each had one. Ten Biggest Numerical Gainers in Population, 1996 to 1997 Rank County State Number Increase 1 Maricopa Ariz. 82,789 2 Los Angeles Calif. 61,623 3 Clark Nev. 59,549 4 Orange Calif. 54,733 5 San Diego Calif. 45,447 6 Harris Texas 43,296 7 Riverside Calif. 33,113 8 Broward Fla. 30,216 9 Dallas Texas 28,918 10 Collin Texas 27,991 The Internet tables contain the following information: - Table CO-97-1 Alphabetical listings of counties within each state and population estimates for 1990 and 1997 with numeric and percent change. - Table CO-97-2 Counties ranked by percent change in population from 1990 to 1997 within each state. - Table CO-97-3 Counties ranked by numeric change in population from 1990 to 1997 within each state. - Table CO-97-4 Annual estimates from 1990 to 1997 by county within each state. - Table CO-97-5 Components of change (births, deaths and migration) from 1990 to 1997 by county within each state. - Table CO-97-6 Annual components of change (births, deaths and migration) for each year from 1990 to 1997 by county within each state.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
