Raleigh and Austin Are Fastest-Growing Metro Areas

WASHINGTON, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Raleigh-Cary, N.C., and
Austin-Round Rock, Texas, were the nation's fastest-growing metro areas
between 2007 and 2008, according to July 1, 2008, population estimates for the
nation's metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties released
today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

Raleigh-Cary saw its population climb 4.3 percent between July 1, 2007, and
July 1, 2008, to 1.1 million. Similarly, Austin-Round Rock experienced a 3.8
percent increase, to 1.7 million. These two large metro areas were among 47
of the 50 fastest-growing areas located entirely in the South or West.

Large metro areas -- those with 2008 populations of 1 million or more -- were
home to nine of the 10 fastest-growing counties. These metros included New
Orleans, which contains St. Bernard Parish (the nation's fastest-growing
county between 2007 and 2008) and neighboring Orleans Parish (the country's
third-fastest-growing county). The nation's second-fastest-growing county in
2008 was Pinal in Arizona (part of the Phoenix metro area).

The Chicago metro area was home to the fourth-fastest-growing county, Kendall,
and the Atlanta metro area was home to fifth-ranked Forsyth County. In Texas,
the Austin metro area was the location of sixth-ranked Williamson and
10th-ranked Hays, San Antonio includes eighth-ranked Kendall, and Dallas-Fort
Worth includes ninth-ranked Rockwall. Only seventh-ranked Geary, Kan., did not
belong to a large metro area.

Editor's note: The data can be accessed at
http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.html.

All in all, 94 of the 100 counties (with a population of 10,000 or more) with
the fastest population growth last year were in either the South (71 counties)
or the West (23 counties). The remaining six were in the Midwest.

Numeric Growth

Four metro areas increased their populations by more than 100,000 people from
2007 to 2008: Dallas-Fort Worth (147,000), Houston (130,000), Phoenix
(116,000) and Atlanta (115,000). Los Angeles (88,000) ranked fifth. Four of
the five counties with the largest numeric gains were in one of these metro
areas: top-gaining Maricopa County, Ariz. (which accounted for 90,000 of the
Phoenix metro gain), Harris County, Texas (contributing 72,000 of the Houston
metro gain), Los Angeles County, Calif. (54,000 of the Los Angeles metro gain)
and Tarrant County, Texas (accounting for 41,000 of the Dallas-Fort Worth
metro gain).

Among the 10 counties that added the largest number of residents during the
period, four were in Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside
and Orange), three were in Texas (Harris, Tarrant and Bexar), and one each was
in Arizona (Maricopa), Nevada (Clark) and North Carolina (Wake).

Most Populous Metro Areas and Counties

The most populous metro areas on July 1, 2008, were New York (19.0 million
people), Los Angeles (12.9 million) and Chicago (9.6 million). Fourteen metro
areas had populations of 4 million or more. The most populous counties were
Los Angeles (9.9 million), Cook (5.3 million and part of the Chicago metro)
and Harris (4.0 million and part of the Houston metro). Overall, 12 counties
had populations of 2 million or more.

As of July 1, 2008, the nation's 363 metro areas contained 254.2 million
people -- 83.6 percent of the total population. Of these areas, 313 gained and
50 lost population between 2007 and 2008. Among the nation's 3,142 counties,
1,974 gained population, 1,161 lost and seven remained unchanged.

Other highlights:

2007-2008:

Counties
-- Among the 100 fastest-growing counties, the majority were in Texas
(19),
Georgia (14), North Carolina (11) or Utah (nine).
-- Texas was home to 10 counties among the 25 with the highest numerical
gains and California to six. Each of the top 25 was in the South or
West, with the exception of Cook, Ill. (Chicago).
-- Five counties were among both the 25 fastest-growing and the 25 top
numerical gainers: Pinal, Ariz.; Orleans, La.; Williamson, Texas; Fort
Bend, Texas; and Wake, N.C.

Metro Areas
-- Four of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas were in Utah and Idaho:
Provo-Orem and St. George in Utah, Idaho Falls in Idaho, and Logan,
which encompasses parts of Utah and Idaho.

Micro Areas
-- The fastest-growing micro areas were Safford, Ariz., and Andrews,
Texas,
growing by 4.1 and 4.0 percent, respectively.
-- Twenty-seven of the 50 fastest-growing micro areas were in the South,
21
in the West and two in the Midwest.
-- Overall, 397 of the 577 U.S. micro areas gained and 180 lost
population
between 2007 and 2008.

Puerto Rico
-- San Juan was the most populous metro area in Puerto Rico, at 2.6
million
in 2008. It also had the highest numeric gain on the island (8,600)
from
2007 to 2008. The San Juan metro area contained the municipio with the
largest population in 2008 (San Juan, at 423,000), the one with the
largest numeric gain from 2007 to 2008 (Toa Alta, with 2,200) and the
fastest-growing (Florida, at 2.9 percent).

2000-2008:

Metro Areas
-- Between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2008, the fastest-growing metro
area
was Palm Coast, Fla., increasing by 83.1 percent. (Its single county,
Flagler, was the second-fastest growing county.) Four western metro
areas (St. George, Utah; Provo-Orem, Utah; Greeley, Colo.; and Bend,
Ore.) rounded out the five fastest-growing metro areas. Three of the
10
fastest-growing metro areas had 2008 populations of 1 million or more:
Raleigh (sixth), Las Vegas (seventh) and Austin (10th).
-- Four metro areas had numeric gains of more than 1 million over the
period: Dallas-Fort Worth (1.14 million), Atlanta (1.13 million),
Phoenix (1.03 million) and Houston (1.01 million). Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., which gained 861,000, ranked fifth.

Counties
-- Eight of the 10 fastest-growing counties between April 1, 2000, and
July
1, 2008, were located in metro areas with 2008 populations of 2
million
or more. The exceptions were Flagler, Fla., and Lincoln, S.D. (a
county
within the Sioux Falls metro area). The fastest-growing county during
the period was Kendall, Ill. (part of the Chicago metro area), which
grew by 89.6 percent. Three of the top 10 counties were part of the
Atlanta metro area: Forsyth, sixth, at 70.8 percent; Paulding, eighth,
at 63.2 percent; and Henry, ninth, at 60.5 percent.
-- The three counties with the largest numeric gains over the period were
found in top gaining metro areas: Maricopa, Ariz. (which contributed
882,000 of Phoenix's gain); Harris, Texas (which accounted for
584,000 of Houston's gain); and Riverside, Calif. (contributing
555,000 of Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario's gain).
-- Maricopa's gain since Census 2000 exceeded the population of six
states.

The Census Bureau's Internet tables show July 1 population estimates for 2000
through 2008, as well as the April 1, 2000, census counts. Also included are
rankings and estimates of components of population change (births, deaths, net
domestic migration and net international migration) for all metro areas, micro
areas and counties. The county-level data in this news release on percent
change apply only to those with total populations of 10,000 or more.

The county and municipio resident population estimates are calculated using
administrative records to estimate components of population change, such as
births, deaths, domestic and international migration. The estimates reflect
changes to the Census 2000 population resulting from legal boundary updates,
other geographic program changes and Count Question Resolution (CQR) actions.
(The CQR Program was an administrative review program that handled external
challenges to particular official Census 2000 counts.)

All geographic boundaries for the July 1, 2008, population estimates series
are defined as of Jan. 1, 2008. The Office of Management and Budget's
statistical area definitions (for metro and micro areas) are those issued by
that agency in November 2007. Metro areas contain at least one urbanized area
of 50,000 or more population and micro areas contain at least one urban
cluster of at least 10,000 (but less than 50,000) population. Both metro and
micro areas consist of one or more whole counties or county equivalents. Some
metro area titles are abbreviated in the text of the news release. Full titles
are shown in the tables.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Robert Bernstein of the U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office,
+1-301-763-3030, +1-301-763-3762 (fax), pio@census.gov