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View from Belk Hudson Lofts in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@al.com)

Huntsville passed Mobile in the 2010 Census to become the second largest metro area in Alabama, and the area continues to grow rapidly.

The Huntsville metro area, which includes Madison and Limestone counties, reached 441,000 people as of 2014. That's up 5.6 percent or about 23,500 people since the 2010 Census.

And the growth has been steady. The metro jumped 1.2 percent or about 5,000 people from 2013 to 2014.

Huntsville continues to be the fastest growing of the state's four large metros.

That's according to the 2014 county and metro estimates just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

But some of the smaller metros are expanding more rapidly. The Auburn-Opelika area has been the fastest growing metro in all of Alabama in recent years. That's followed by the newly designated Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metro in Baldwin County. Each is less than half the size of the Huntsville metro area.

The Columbus, Ga., metro, which includes parts of Alabama, was technically the third fastest growing in Alabama. Huntsville metro saw the fourth largest percentage increase since 2010.

Chad Emerson, CEO of Downtown Huntsville, attributes the sustained growth to quality of life issues.

"I think that people are starting to discover in addition to the technology sectors there are a lot of interesting sectors, like the artisan sector, and discovering we have a great outdoors culture here too," said Emerson. 'This is one of the gems of the Southeast."

Meanwhile, four of the state's 12 metro areas lost population since 2010. Those were Gadsden, Anniston, Decatur and Montgomery.

Metro areas are determined by economic ties and the number of commuters. Decatur metro, which is not counted as part of the Huntsville metro, dropped by about 800 people or .5 percent since 2010 to reach about 153,084 residents.

In Huntsville, much of the growth has been driven by surburban and even urban expansion into Limestone County, as city limits for both Madison and Huntsville stretch west.

Limestone was the third fastest growing county in Alabama from 2013 to 2014, and that is without the looming arrival of new manufacturing plants for both Remington and Polaris.

Limestone County was estimated to have about 91,000 people in 2014. It has been the 66th fastest growing county in the United States since 2010.

Madison County grew by .9 percent from 2013 to 2014 to reach 350,000 residents. That made Madison County the seventh fastest growing county in the state on the latest estimates. Meanwhile, 34 counties in Alabama went in the other direction and lost population from 2013 to 2014.

When asked about what's driving growth, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle often lists items like affordability, short commutes, good schools, skilled work force, and more.

"The quality of life in Huntsville is second to none, and the remarkable growth we're experiencing has been the result of vision and teamwork by a host of leaders, businesses, and citizens," Battle said by email on Wednesday, adding: "Prospective companies are impressed with what they see, and they are making no secret that Huntsville is a top candidate on their list of cities under consideration."

Elsewhere around Huntsville, Morgan County held steady from 2013 to 2014 around 119,607 residents. Marshall County grew slightly to 94,636. Jackson County alone continues to shrink. Jackson County lost about 300 people from 2013 to 2014 to fall to 52,665 residents.