MARCH 23, 2017 — Maricopa County, Ariz., replaced Harris County, Texas, as the county with the nation's highest annual population growth, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released today. Harris County was the largest numeric gainer for eight years in a row. Maricopa County gained 81,360 people between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2016, or about 222 people per day, while the nation's second-largest population gainer, Harris County, gained 56,587 people, or about 155 people per day on average.
Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, primarily grew through the addition of 43,189 residents from net domestic migration, a measure of how many people move to or from an area versus other parts of the United States. The county also added 25,428 people from natural increase (more births than deaths) and 10,188 people from net international migration.
Harris County, Texas, home to Houston, saw changes in net domestic migration, going from a net gain of more than 17,000 to a net loss of more than 16,000. Despite this, Harris County had the second largest gain in population due to high natural increase (46,412) and net international migration (27,922).
"In the early 2000s, Maricopa County was in the top one or two counties by numeric growth. From 2009-2011, Maricopa County saw much lower net migration than in the years before or after, which caused the county to drop out of the top population-gaining counties," explained Peter Borsella, a demographer in the Census Bureau's population division. "While net international migration has not reached prior levels, net domestic migration and natural increase have continued to rise, making Maricopa County this year's largest numeric gainer."
In addition, Maricopa grew the fastest among the top 10 largest counties at 1.95 percent, an increase from 1.90 percent from the previous year. Harris County remained the third-largest county with 4.6 million people, and Maricopa County remained the fourth-largest county with 4.2 million people. Los Angeles County and Cook County, Ill., remained the largest and second-largest counties, respectively.
The statistics released today provide population estimates and components of change for our nation's 382 metropolitan statistical areas, 551 micropolitan statistical areas, and 3,142 counties, as well as Puerto Rico's metropolitan statistical areas, micropolitan statistical areas and municipios.
Find more highlights from this year's release below and local-level statistics on census.gov.
In the coming months, the Census Bureau will release 2016 population estimates for cities and towns, as well as national, state and county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin.
These notable high-population counties continued to see population loss:
Baltimore city saw an increase in population loss this year primarily due to a doubling of its net domestic out-migration.
Three of the 20 fastest-growing metro areas between 2015 and 2016 were located either partially or completely in Utah (St. George, Utah; Provo-Orem, Utah; and Logan, Utah-Idaho).
North Dakota counties no longer top the list of fastest-growing counties by percentage change.
All of these counties lost population due to people moving away to other parts of the United States (negative net domestic migration). Formerly fast-growing North Dakota counties have been replaced in the top 10 by counties in Iowa, Oregon and Washington. Other top 10 counties once again are in Utah, Texas and Florida.
To find where people are leaving from and moving to, visit Census Flows Mapper.
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The Census Bureau develops county, metro area and micro area population estimates by measuring population change since the most recent census. The Census Bureau uses births, deaths, administrative records and survey data to develop estimates of population. For more detail regarding the methodology, see <www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/methodology.html>.
The Office of Management and Budget's statistical area delineations (for metro and micro areas) are those issued by that agency in July 2015. Metro areas contain at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, and micro areas contain at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000 (but less than 50,000) population. Both metro and micro areas consist of one or more whole counties or county equivalents. Some metro and micro area titles may be abbreviated in the text of the news release. Full titles are shown in the tables.
County | Population | Numeric Change | Percent Change | Births | Deaths | Domestic Migration | International Migration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maricopa County, Arizona |
4,242,997 | 81,360 | 1.95 | 56,073 | 30,645 | 43,189 | 10,188 |
Harris County, Texas |
4,589,928 | 56,587 | 1.25 | 73,072 | 26,660 | -16,225 | 27,922 |
Clark County, Nevada |
2,155,664 | 46,375 | 2.20 | 27,352 | 16,501 | 27,735 | 6,566 |
King County, Washington |
2,149,970 | 35,714 | 1.69 | 25,905 | 13,580 | 8,511 | 15,500 |
Tarrant County, Texas |
2,016,872 | 35,462 | 1.79 | 28,682 | 12,903 | 13,411 | 6,348 |
Riverside County, California |
2,387,741 | 34,849 | 1.48 | 30,845 | 17,092 | 16,961 | 3,099 |
Bexar County, Texas |
1,928,680 | 33,198 | 1.75 | 28,283 | 13,458 | 13,077 | 5,361 |
Orange County, Florida |
1,314,367 | 29,503 | 2.30 | 16,721 | 8,198 | 10,083 | 11,078 |
Dallas County, Texas |
2,574,984 | 29,209 | 1.15 | 40,063 | 16,407 | -6,193 | 12,133 |
Hillsborough County, Florida |
1,376,238 | 29,161 | 2.16 | 17,345 | 11,179 | 14,806 | 7,774 |
County | Population | Numeric Change | Percent Change | Births | Deaths | Domestic Migration | International Migration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Juan County, Utah |
16,895 | 1,188 | 7.56 | 240 | 112 | 1,038 | 13 |
Kendall County, Texas |
42,540 | 2,088 | 5.16 | 391 | 389 | 1,844 | 77 |
Hays County, Texas |
204,470 | 9,896 | 5.09 | 2,553 | 1,011 | 7,932 | 171 |
Wasatch County, Utah |
30,528 | 1,363 | 4.67 | 475 | 126 | 891 | 77 |
Dallas County, Iowa |
84,516 | 3,739 | 4.63 | 1,268 | 433 | 2,500 | 296 |
Comal County, Texas |
134,788 | 5,675 | 4.40 | 1,597 | 1,085 | 4,760 | 109 |
Sumter County, Florida |
123,996 | 5,114 | 4.30 | 501 | 1,742 | 4,873 | 55 |
Crook County, Oregon |
22,570 | 923 | 4.26 | 240 | 236 | 886 | 7 |
Juab County, Utah |
11,010 | 444 | 4.20 | 185 | 74 | 319 | -1 |
Kittitas County, Washington |
44,866 | 1,809 | 4.20 | 391 | 286 | 1,563 | 72 |
County | Population | Numeric Change | Percent Change | Births | Deaths | Domestic Migration | International Migration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cook County, Illinois |
5,203,499 | -21,324 | -0.41 | 68,049 | 42,297 | -66,244 | 18,434 |
Wayne County, Michigan |
1,749,366 | -7,696 | -0.44 | 23,209 | 18,231 | -17,346 | 4,279 |
Baltimore city, Maryland |
614,664 | -6,738 | -1.08 | 8,654 | 6,871 | -11,008 | 2,195 |
Cuyahoga County, Ohio |
1,249,352 | -5,673 | -0.45 | 14,941 | 13,563 | -10,122 | 3,402 |
Suffolk County, New York |
1,492,583 | -5,320 | -0.36 | 15,446 | 12,793 | -11,278 | 4,327 |
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin |
951,448 | -4,866 | -0.51 | 13,675 | 8,176 | -13,186 | 2,505 |
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania |
1,225,365 | -3,933 | -0.32 | 13,193 | 13,995 | -5,821 | 3,479 |
San Juan County, New Mexico |
115,079 | -3,622 | -3.05 | 1,703 | 1,026 | -4,341 | 42 |
St. Louis City, Missouri |
311,404 | -3,471 | -1.10 | 4,547 | 3,070 | -6,189 | 981 |
Jefferson County, New York |
114,006 | -3,254 | -2.78 | 2,000 | 945 | -4,674 | 345 |
Rank by Percent Change | Metro Area | 2015 Population | 2016 Population | Numeric Change | Percent Change | Natural Increase | Births | Deaths | Net Migration | Domestic Migration | International Migration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Villages, FL | 118,882 | 123,996 | 5,114 | 4.3 | -1,241 | 501 | 1,742 | 4,928 | 4,873 | 55 |
2 | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC | 432,493 | 449,295 | 16,802 | 3.9 | -488 | 4,214 | 4,702 | 15,308 | 14,881 | 427 |
3 | Bend-Redmond, OR | 174,942 | 181,307 | 6,365 | 3.6 | 398 | 1,853 | 1,455 | 5,698 | 5,695 | 3 |
4 | Greeley, CO | 285,053 | 294,932 | 9,879 | 3.5 | 2,381 | 4,106 | 1,725 | 7,300 | 6,991 | 309 |
5 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 700,285 | 722,336 | 22,051 | 3.1 | -658 | 6,666 | 7,324 | 20,780 | 17,769 | 3,011 |
6 | St. George, UT | 155,450 | 160,245 | 4,795 | 3.1 | 1,026 | 2,232 | 1,206 | 3,285 | 3,267 | 18 |
7 | Provo-Orem, UT | 585,362 | 603,309 | 17,947 | 3.1 | 10,004 | 12,347 | 2,343 | 7,765 | 6,893 | 872 |
8 | Punta Gorda, FL | 173,194 | 178,465 | 5,271 | 3.0 | -1,614 | 1,044 | 2,658 | 6,154 | 5,800 | 354 |
9 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 1,998,104 | 2,056,405 | 58,301 | 2.9 | 17,071 | 27,375 | 10,304 | 40,273 | 33,395 | 6,878 |
10 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 768,013 | 788,457 | 20,444 | 2.7 | -3,227 | 6,545 | 9,772 | 21,138 | 18,913 | 2,225 |
11 | Coeur d'Alene, ID | 150,364 | 154,311 | 3,947 | 2.6 | 480 | 1,834 | 1,354 | 3,169 | 3,123 | 46 |
12 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 649,425 | 666,149 | 16,724 | 2.6 | 892 | 7,678 | 6,786 | 15,061 | 12,152 | 2,909 |
13 | Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL | 147,792 | 151,563 | 3,771 | 2.6 | -766 | 1,284 | 2,050 | 3,828 | 3,530 | 298 |
14 | Raleigh, NC | 1,271,381 | 1,302,946 | 31,565 | 2.5 | 8,414 | 15,893 | 7,479 | 22,607 | 18,510 | 4,097 |
15 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 2,382,132 | 2,441,257 | 59,125 | 2.5 | 10,798 | 28,849 | 18,051 | 46,922 | 29,441 | 17,481 |
16 | Port St. Lucie, FL | 454,111 | 465,208 | 11,097 | 2.4 | -890 | 4,357 | 5,247 | 10,724 | 9,759 | 965 |
17 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL | 356,570 | 365,136 | 8,566 | 2.4 | -220 | 3,270 | 3,490 | 7,434 | 5,292 | 2,142 |
18 | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL | 203,690 | 208,563 | 4,873 | 2.4 | 161 | 2,274 | 2,113 | 4,289 | 4,046 | 243 |
19 | Boise City, ID | 675,777 | 691,423 | 15,646 | 2.3 | 4,157 | 8,753 | 4,596 | 10,757 | 9,950 | 807 |
20 | Logan, UT-ID | 133,093 | 136,159 | 3,066 | 2.3 | 1,991 | 2,578 | 587 | 1,052 | 728 | 324 |
21 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 623,378 | 637,674 | 14,296 | 2.3 | -2,437 | 5,714 | 8,151 | 15,419 | 13,981 | 1,438 |
22 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | 513,449 | 525,032 | 11,583 | 2.3 | 3,660 | 7,266 | 3,606 | 7,845 | 6,564 | 1,281 |
23 | Olympia-Tumwater, WA | 269,183 | 275,222 | 6,039 | 2.2 | 1,000 | 3,172 | 2,172 | 4,725 | 4,060 | 665 |
24 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 744,603 | 761,155 | 16,552 | 2.2 | 3,710 | 9,662 | 5,952 | 12,377 | 11,471 | 906 |
25 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 2,109,289 | 2,155,664 | 46,375 | 2.2 | 10,851 | 27,352 | 16,501 | 34,301 | 27,735 | 6,566 |