Since 2010, the Akron metropolitan area gained population — 1,632 people — only because of a significant influx of immigrants, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution. At the same time, Cleveland, despite attracting its own significant number of immigrants, ranked 99th of 100 metro areas surveyed because of a serious net population loss.

The study from the Washington, D.C., think tank, "As Americans Spread Out, Immigration Plays a Crucial Role in Local Population Growth," analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data and found that while 14,505 people left the Akron area for elsewhere in the state or country, the area would have lost population had it not attracted 13,108 immigrants. Akron had what the census calls "natural growth" — an excess in the number of births over deaths — of only 3,452.

Because of that 100% growth from immigration, Akron shared the top spot on the list of metropolitan areas benefiting from immigration with 14 other cities. Overall, the Akron metro grew to a population of 704,845 from 703,203.

Cleveland, too, gained immigrants. The study reported that the Census Bureau estimated the Cleveland metro attracted 37,196. However, 71,731 people left the metro area and it had natural growth of only 14,921. So, between 2010 and 2018, the metro's population declined from 2,077,278 to 2,057,009, a net loss of 20,269.

That loss in the Cleveland metro is part of a national trend of people leaving larger metropolitan areas, though most metro areas were able to offset the people leaving with immigrants and natural growth. Among the metro areas with significant numbers packing up and leaving were New York City (which lost 1,275,325 to domestic migration but still grew to a population of 19,979,477), Los Angeles (619,657/13,291,486) and Chicago (564,597/9,498,716).

Immigration trends change gradually, Brookings said, because immigrants tend to move to places where there are existing immigrant communities of the same nationality, and they respond to more long-term economic circumstances.

More broadly, Brookings found that the growth in urban centers is diminishing, while growth is occurring in suburbs, small towns and rural areas. Immigration, Brookings said, "is becoming an even more important contributor to growth in both large urban areas and smaller-sized regions with otherwise stagnant or declining populations."