Continuing a trend that has been underway since at least the 1990s, the latest detailed results from the 2020 U.S. Census report shows that the large metropolitan areas of the Southwest enjoyed the greatest growth in the last decade.
Those detailed results released by the Census Bureau saw Phoenix with the greatest percentage point gain for a city in the last decade, a jump of 11.2%.
Phoenix is also now the fifth largest city in the country.
In terms of the larger metropolitan areas, Greeley, Colorado was up by just over 30%, with two metro areas in Utah, one taking in the cities of Provo and Orem, and the other surveying all greater St. George, up between 27% and 30.5%.
In a statement, Marc Perry, Census Bureau senior demographer, noted that “Many counties within metro areas saw growth, especially those in the south and west.”
However, added Perry: “Our nation is growing slower than it used to. The decline is evident at the local level where around 52% of the counties in the United States saw their 2020 Census populations decrease from their 2010 Census populations.”
While half of the fastest growing metro areas were in the West, only one was added to the top ten list for areas in decline: Farmington, New Mexico, with a 6.4% decline in the last decade.
Th survey also underscored two ongoing historic trends: for the first time since the Census began its decennial census in 1790, the country’s total white population deceased, falling to just under 60%.
At the same time, those claiming Latino or Hispanic ethnicity registered a 23% gain over the year 2010.
Despite the strong Phoenix numbers, Arizona’s growth rate was static, while Colorado saw an average increase of around 2%, and Utah was up by more than 5%. In the Southwest, only California and New Mexico saw marginal population declines.
By Garry Boulard
