Edina Shows Moderate Growth from 2010 to 2011

grew slightly less than the metro area as a whole from 2010 to 2011, according to Metropolitan Council data released Monday. 

The community added 321 people from 2010 to 2011—0.67 percent growth to bring the city’s population to 48,262.

That growth is a notch slower than the 0.84 percent in the seven-county metro area and Hennepin County’s 0.92 percent growth.

Minneapolis led the metro in population increases, which Met Council Demographer Todd Graham attributed to new multi-family housing. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul, which had the second-most growth, had increased apartment occupancy rates. Together, the two cities accounted for 29 percent of the metro’s growth.

"I'm pleased to see growth occurring primarily where there’s infrastructure to support it,” a news release quoted Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh. "Growth that occurs where infrastructure already exists creates economies of scale and promotes efficiency, which improves the region’s ability to focus energy and resources on economic development."

The west metro as a whole lagged behind the rest of the region. All of Edina's neighbors—except for Bloomington—showed below-average population increases.

"The estimates reflect only the one year following Census 2010," said Graham. "We need to be cautious about inferring trends from one year."

Like Edina Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter