Tom Charlier

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Population growth across the Memphis metropolitan area continues to sputter, new census estimates show.

During the 12 months ending last July 1, the nine-county area added only 888 residents to boost its total population to 1,342,842, according to estimates released last week. That's a growth rate of less than 0.1 percent.

"We're not a disaster zone, but we're not going anywhere quickly," said David Ciscel, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Memphis.

The metro area consists of Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties in Tennessee, Crittenden County, Arkansas, and Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate and Tunica counties in Mississippi.

The area's growth rate lagged far behind that of metro Nashville, which added an estimated 36,337 people, or 2 percent, and now has a population of 1,865,298. To put that in context, metro Nashville added more than twice as many people in one year than the number (16,443) that metro Memphis grew by over the past six years.

The metropolitan statistical areas of Knoxville, which added 7,377 residents, Chattanooga, which increased by 4,625, and Clarksville, Tennessee, which grew by 1,361, also enjoyed much higher growth rates than Memphis in the most recent estimates. The Jackson, Tennessee, metro area, however, lost an estimated 61 residents to drop its population to 129,527.

Elsewhere in the Mid-South, Little Rock's metro area added 3,080 people and grew 0.4 percent to 734,622, while Jackson, Mississippi's area increased by 563 residents for a population of 579,229.

Nationwide, the average growth rate for metro areas was 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending last July 1.

Ciscel said that while the Memphis area's economy boasts many "strong points," such as distribution, it isn't attracting people to move here. Instead of outsiders moving in, many current residents are just moving from one part of the metro area to another.

"We keep moving the chairs around the MSA deck," Ciscel said. "We don't add more chairs to it."

Reach Tom Charlier at Thomas.Charlier@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thomasrcharlier.