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By Chuck Campbell of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Knox County's growth rate is outpacing the overall growth rate of Tennessee, and some nearby counties are growing even faster than Knox, according to new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new figures are based on county population estimates as of July 1, 2015, and show Knox County has grown to 451,324, up 4.4 percent since the 2010 census estimate of 432,226 — a net gain of 19,098 residents in the county in five years.

Tennessee overall has grown an even 4 percent during the same time, from 6,346,105 to 6,600,299.

Sevier County continues to boom, leading the region with a 6.8 increase from a 2010 population of 89,889 to a 2015 estimate of 95,946. Not far behind is Loudon County, which grew 5.3 percent from 48,556 to 51,130. Blount County, the second largest county in the Knoxville area, grew 3.4 percent, from 123,010 to 127,253, and Jefferson County grew 3.2 percent, from 51,407 to 53,240.

The three counties that border Knox to the north all had growth rates of less than one percent: Anderson grew .8 percent (from 75,129 to 75,749), Grainger grew .9 percent (from 22,657 to 22,846), and Union grew .1 percent (from 19,109 to 19,119).

Counties even farther to the north posted population declines, including Scott (down 1.3 percent from 22,228 to 21,950), Campbell (down 2.4 percent from 40,716 to 39,752) and Claiborne (down 1.6 percent from 32,213 to 31,709). A couple of counties to the west of Knox also lost population — Roane County dropped 2.6 percent, from 54,181 to 52,753, and Morgan County declined by 2.2 percent, from 21,987 to 21,498.

Other counties in the region include Monroe, which grew 2.8 percent from 44,519 to 45,771; McMinn, which grew .7 percent from 52,266 to 52,639, Hamblen, which grew 1.4 percent from 62,544 to 63,402, and Cocke, which declined 1.4 percent from 35,662 to 35,162.

Elsewhere in Tennessee, the Nashville area leads the state in population growth. Davidson County, which includes Nashville, grew a whopping 8.3 percent from 626,681 to 678,889, and most counties surrounding Davidson showed similar robust growth.

Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga, grew 5.2 percent from 336,463 to 354,098. The state's largest county, Shelby, which includes Memphis, was up 1.1 percent from 927,644 to 938,069. On the other end of the state from Memphis, Sullivan County, which includes much of the Tri-Cities population, was nearly flat, dropping slightly from 156,823 in 2010 to an estimated 156,791 in 2015.

The U.S. Census Bureau has not yet released its 2015 population estimates for Tennessee cities.

Estimated population (and growth rate) for Knox and adjacent counties:

Knox 451,324 (+ 4.4 percent)

Blount 127,253 (+ 3.4 percent)

Sevier 95,946 (+ 6.8 percent)

Anderson 75,749 (+ .8 percent)

Jefferson 53,240 (+ 3.2 percent)

Roane 52,753 (-2.6 percent)

Loudon 51,130 (+5.3 percent)

Grainger 22,846 (+ .9 percent)

Union 19,119 (+ .1 percent)

Other notable Tennessee counties:

Shelby 938,069 (+ 1.1 percent)

Davidson 678,889 (+ 8.3 percent)

Hamilton 354,098 (+ 5.2 percent)