“People just weren’t moving much at all, anywhere in the country,” he said.

Early in the decade, mid-size cities such as Madison began growing again, but now that growth has extended to cities of 10,000 to 20,000 people.

“More remote counties which have been negative for a long time seem to be turning positive,” Egan-Robertson said.

That’s the case in 21 counties — including eight where recent gains offset the earlier losses.

The inverse was true only in Milwaukee County, where the population began declining in 2016.

As a percentage of total population, Dane County grew by about 1 percent; Adams, Pierce, St. Croix and Vilas — all with populations under 100,000 — had much smaller numerical gains but grew at rates greater than 1 percent.

Though year-over-year growth has slowed somewhat since 2011, Dane County has added an average of about 6,000 residents per year in this decade.

“That’s about the size of a small city or village,” said Todd Violante, director of Dane County planning and development department.