The Census Bureau just finished releasing all of the state redistricting file information from the 2010 Census, giving us a now complete portrait of population change for the entire country. Population growth continued to be heavily concentrated in suburban metropolitan counties while many rural areas, particularly in the Great Plains, continue to shrink.



Percentage change in population, 2000-2010. Counties that grew in population in blue, decliners in red. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.

Dividing counties by those growing faster or slower than the US average paints the picture even more starkly:



Percentage change in population, 2000-2010. Counties growing faster than the US average in blue, slower than the US average in red. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.

The release of all county data means it is also possible to take an unofficial, preliminary look at metropolitan area growth. The biggest gainers were Sunbelt cities in the South, Texas, and the Midwest, while the Midwest and Northeast continued to lag, particularly the old heavy manufacturing axis stretching from Detroit to Pittsburgh. But this picture was not monolithic. Many Southern cities with Rust Belt profiles like Birmingham failed to grow much compared to neighbors, nor did coastal California with its development restrictions.



Percentage change in population, 2000-2010. MSAs that grew in population in blue, decliners in red. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.



Percentage change in population, 2000-2010. Counties growing faster than the US average in blue, slower than the US average in red. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.

A full table of population change for large metro areas (greater than one million people) is available at the bottom of this post.

Basic race information is also available in this data release, since it is used to ensure redistricting complies with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. Here's a map showing the concentration of Hispanic population the US:



Population of Hispanic Origin, as a percentage of total population. Note: Legend values not multipled by 100.

Hispanic population remains heavily concentrated in the Southwest, but the interior, and especially parts of the South one would not expect, such as Alabama, posted significant gains in Hispanic population share.



Hispanic population as change in percentage of total population, 2000-2010. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.

As the highest concentrations of Hispanics remain in the Southwest, similarly the Black population is at its heaviest concentrations in the South:

Black Alone population as a percentage of total population, 2010. Note: Legend percentages not multiplied by 100.

A lot has been written about the so-called reverse Great Migration of blacks from the North to the South. These results show something of that effect, but less of a general than a specific migration. Some cities both North and South are becoming magnets for Blacks, while other traditional Black hubs like Chicago are no longer favored. Note that some northern cities that showed a larger increase in concentration started off on a low base, like Minneapolis-St. Paul:



Black Alone population as change in percentage of total population, 2000-2010. Note: Legend values not multiplied by 100.

As noted above, here are all US metro areas with a population greater than one million people in 2010, ranked by percentage change in population:









2000-2010 Population Growth, MSAs of 1 Million or More Rank Metropolitan Area 2000 2010 Total Change Pct Change 1 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 1,375,765 1,951,269 575,504 41.8% 2 Raleigh-Cary, NC 797,071 1,130,490 333,419 41.8% 3 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 1,249,763 1,716,289 466,526 37.3% 4 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 1,330,448 1,758,038 427,590 32.1% 5 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 3,254,821 4,224,851 970,030 29.8% 6 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 1,644,561 2,134,411 489,850 29.8% 7 Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ 3,251,876 4,192,887 941,011 28.9% 8 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 4,715,407 5,946,800 1,231,393 26.1% 9 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 1,711,703 2,142,508 430,805 25.2% 10 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 4,247,981 5,268,860 1,020,879 24.0% 11 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 5,161,544 6,371,773 1,210,229 23.4% 12 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 1,311,789 1,589,934 278,145 21.2% 13 Jacksonville, FL 1,122,750 1,345,596 222,846 19.8% 14 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA 1,796,857 2,149,127 352,270 19.6% 15 Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO 2,179,240 2,543,482 364,242 16.7% 16 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 4,796,183 5,582,170 785,987 16.4% 17 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2,395,997 2,783,243 387,246 16.2% 18 Salt Lake City, UT 968,858 1,124,197 155,339 16.0% 19 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 1,927,881 2,226,009 298,128 15.5% 20 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 1,525,104 1,756,241 231,137 15.2% 21 Richmond, VA 1,096,957 1,258,251 161,294 14.7% 22 Oklahoma City, OK 1,095,421 1,252,987 157,566 14.4% 23 Columbus, OH 1,612,694 1,836,536 223,842 13.9% 24 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,043,878 3,439,809 395,931 13.0% 25 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 5,007,564 5,564,635 557,071 11.1% 26 Kansas City, MO-KS 1,836,038 2,035,334 199,296 10.9% 27 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 2,968,806 3,279,833 311,027 10.5% 28 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 1,161,975 1,283,566 121,591 10.5% 29 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 2,813,833 3,095,313 281,480 10.0% 30 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 1,205,204 1,316,100 110,896 9.2% 31 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 1,052,238 1,128,047 75,809 7.2% 32 Baltimore-Towson, MD 2,552,994 2,710,489 157,495 6.2% 33 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 1,576,370 1,671,683 95,313 6.0% 34 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 2,009,632 2,130,151 120,519 6.0% 35 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,735,819 1,836,911 101,092 5.8% 36 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 1,148,618 1,212,381 63,763 5.6% 37 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 4,123,740 4,335,391 211,651 5.1% 38 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 5,687,147 5,965,343 278,196 4.9% 39 St. Louis, MO-IL 2,698,687 2,812,896 114,209 4.2% 40 Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI 9,098,316 9,461,105 362,789 4.0% 41 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 12,365,627 12,828,837 463,210 3.7% 42 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 1,500,741 1,555,908 55,167 3.7% 43 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4,391,344 4,552,402 161,058 3.7% 44 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 18,323,002 18,897,109 574,107 3.1% 45 Rochester, NY 1,037,831 1,054,323 16,492 1.6% 46 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 1,582,997 1,600,852 17,855 1.1% 47 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 1,170,111 1,135,509 -34,602 -3.0% 48 Pittsburgh, PA 2,431,087 2,356,285 -74,802 -3.1% 49 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 2,148,143 2,077,240 -70,903 -3.3% 50 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 4,452,557 4,296,250 -156,307 -3.5% 51 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 1,316,510 1,167,764 -148,746 -11.3%





Aaron M. Renn is an independent writer on urban affairs based in the Midwest. His writings appear at The Urbanophile. Maps and analysis done using Telestrian.