Massachusetts Population Increasing Faster Than Rest of Northeast

Increasing nearly 4 percent from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2015, Massachusetts is growing in population faster than the rest of the Northeast, and relatively close to the national growth rate.

The US Census Bureau on Tuesday released new population estimates, showing that the Northeast grew from a population of 55,317,240 in 2010 to 56,283,891 in 2015.

Massachusetts saw an addition of 40,000 from July, 2014, to July, 2015, which makes it the fastest growing state in the region for the fifth year in a row, reported the Boston Globe. Vermont, Maine and Connecticut all lost population numbers within the past year.

According to 2014 figures (the latest available) from the US Census, Middlesex County’s population is 1,570,315.

The United States as a whole in the year-long period saw its population increase by 0.79 percent over the period to 321.4 million, slightly faster than the rate of growth over the previous one-year period (0.78 percent), said the US Census.

Since 2010, the population has grown 4.1 percent to more than 321 million, reported the Globe.

“Massachusetts is a strong attractor of immigrants,” Susan Strate, senior program manager of the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute’s Population Estimates Program, told the Globe.

North Carolina became the ninth state to add more than 10 million people, with the state adding an average of 281 people per day, according to the Census Bureau.

Florida added more people than California for the first time in close to a decade, but California continues to be the most populous state.

For the fourth year in a row, North Dakota was the nation’s fastest-growing state or equal to last year. North Dakota was followed by Colorado, the District of Columbia and Nevada in this category.

Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau