Miami Among Fastest Growing US Cities: Census Bureau

MIAMI, FL — If you think there are more people in the Miami area than there used to be, you're absolutely right. New figures released on Thursday from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the Magic City ranks 14th in terms of overall growth from 2015 to 2016 among America's cities experiencing the largest growth in the number of people. Florida ranked fourth among the fastest-growing states.

The city of Miami grew by 12,715 over a one-year period from July 2015 to July 2016 for a total population of 453,579.

The Sunshine State also remained the country’s third most populous state in 2016. Florida overtook New York’s for third-place standings in 2015 and continued to grow in 2016. New York’s population shrunk in 2016 by 1,894 people, the Census noted. Florida’s population, however, grew by 367,525 in 2016, giving it a number two ranking in numeric growth for the year. The Sunshine State trailed Texas’ net population growth of 432,957.

“Overall, cities in the South continue to grow at a faster rate than any other U.S region,” said Amel Toukabri, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s population division. “Since the 2010 Census, the population in large southern cities grew by an average of 9.4 percent. In comparison, cities in the West grew 7.3 percent, while cities in the Northeast and Midwest had much lower growth rates at 1.8 percent and 3.0 percent respectively.”

As for those fastest-growing numbers, the census bureau looked at the percentage change in population between 2015 and 2016 to create a Top 10 list. Utah earned first-place honors with an uptick of 2.03 percent in its population, which is still just over 3 million. Nevada came in second place with a percentage change of 1.95, giving it a population that is nearing 3 million. Idaho edged out the Sunshine State slightly with a 1.83 percent climb in population. That state’s total number of residents is now estimated at 1,683,140 by the census bureau.

Florida’s population swelled to 20,612,439 in 2016. The increase over 2015’s 20,244,914 is 1.82 percent. The remaining Top 10 honorees are Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, District of Columbia and Texas, respectively.

In regard to total population, Florida has a long way to go to edge out the first- and second-place holders. California is in the No. 1 slot with 39,250,017 residents. Texas comes in second with 27,862,596.

Nationally, the census reported the country’s population grew by 0.7 percent in 2016 to reach 323.1 million. Aside from New York, other states that saw population decreases included Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Illinois and a few others.

For more findings, visit census.gov.

Patch editor Sherri Lonon in Tampa contributed to this article.

Photo by Paul Scicchitano