TRIVIA top growing metropolitan areas for 2010 census

In honor of the Census 2010 results to be released shortly here is a population trivia quiz question. The table shows the top 50 metropolitan areas in order of how much they grew in the 1990's. Population is shown for year 2000.

Guess the top 3 for the 2010 census. We'll see who guess the best when the results are released.

Rules: Only choose from these 50 areas. Some smaller metropolitan areas may grow faster.
The metropolitan area is not the city limits. The area is defined by the census bureau. For instance Vegas metropolitan area is the same as Clark county.

85.5%	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	1,375,765
47.7%	Austin-Round Rock, TX	1,249,763
45.3%	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	3,251,876
38.4%	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	4,247,981
34.3%	Orlando, FL	1,644,561
30.7%	Denver-Aurora, CO	2,179,240
29.8%	Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC	1,330,448
29.4%	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	5,161,544
26.5%	Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA	1,927,881
26.1%	Salt Lake City, UT	968,858
25.7%	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	3,254,821
25.2%	Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX	4,715,407
25.1%	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro, TN	1,311,789
23.5%	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL	5,007,564
21.6%	San Antonio, TX	1,711,703
21.4%	Jacksonville, FL	1,122,750
21.3%	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA	1,796,857
18.9%	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3,043,878
17.8%	Indianapolis, IN	1,525,104
16.9%	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	2,968,806
16.3%	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD	4,796,183
15.9%	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	2,395,997
15.6%	Richmond, VA	1,096,957
14.8%	Columbus, OH	1,612,694
13.1%	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	1,735,819
12.9%	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	1,205,204
12.8%	Oklahoma City, OK	1,095,421
12.6%	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	2,813,833
12.2%	Kansas City, MO-KS	1,836,038
11.9%	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	4,123,740
11.2%	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI	9,098,316
10.0%	Louisville, KY-IN	1,161,975
10.0%	Birmingham-Hoover, AL	1,052,238
9.7%	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA	12,365,627
8.9%	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN	2,009,632
8.8%	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA	18,323,002
8.8%	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	1,576,370
7.2%	Baltimore-Towson, MD	2,552,994
6.2%	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH	4,391,344
4.8%	Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA	1,582,997
4.8%	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI	4,452,557
4.8%	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	1,500,741
4.6%	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE	5,687,147
4.6%	St. Louis, MO-IL	2,698,687
4.1%	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	1,316,510
3.5%	Rochester, NY	1,037,831
2.2%	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	1,148,618
2.2%	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	2,148,143
-1.5%	Pittsburgh, PA	2,431,087
-1.6%	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	1,170,111

I'll go with Atlanta, Charlotte, and Salt Lake City.

Seattle, Atlanta, Nashville. I think that is where all the jobs are now.

Keep in mind that the table is ordered by percentage. New York and Los Angeles gained over a million people (only 5 metropolitan areas grew by more than a million), but they are already so large that the percentage of growth is relatively small.

I'm gonna go with Austin, San Antonio, Dallas. Texas has a huge chunk of the job growth and a really stable economy. I doubt all three are in the top 3, but I wouldn't doubt if two were.

My guess is Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Atlanta, the later which I pick since I can't see Raleigh-Durham, NC anywhere.

Quote: AZDuffman

My guess is Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Atlanta, the later which I pick since I can't see Raleigh-Durham, NC anywhere.

I shortened the list because it is difficult to predict the growth rate of a smallish town of less than 100K people.

I cut the list off at the largest 50 metropolitan areas. The census bureau designates 950 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in the year 2000. There was 49 areas over a million people.

Raleigh-Durham was ranked #59 (and is indeed a fast growing area).

You are the first person who picked Las Vegas which is an interesting choice. There is considerable disagreement among some experts about what the true population of Las Vegas will be in the census.

I will go with Austin, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Since the time period is the whole decade some of the population loss in the recession may not offset strong growth earlier.

Go West!

Austin, Denver, SLC

The City of Palm Coast will probably be the fastest growing metropolis, but it was under 50K for the year 2000 census.

I may have jumped the gun on this trivia question. The state counts are due to the President by the end of December, but they may not release the metropolitan counts until March. We may have to wait until March to see the winner.

The results were released today.
For over 1 million population

Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 41.83%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 37.33%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 32.14%

My rule was limited to the metropolitan areas in the above list, that were over 1 million in the 2000 census
Two new metropolitan area joined the over 1 million club (Tucson just missed)
Raleigh-Cary, NC
Salt Lake City, UT

Vegas grew faster than Raleigh by a tiny 25 parts in a million.

The bottom five shrinking metropolitan areas for over a million (whole metropolitan area, not just the city)
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA (-11.30%) 1,167,764
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI (-3.51%) 4,296,250
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH (-3.30%) 2,077,240
Pittsburgh, PA (-3.08%) 2,356,285
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY (-2.96%) 1,135,509

This phenomena of five shrinking metropolitan areas over 1 million is new. Last census only Pittsburgh, PA and Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY were shrinking and only by -1.5%, The other areas may have had shrinking cities at their core, but the metropolitan area was still growing.
Greater Detroit grew 5%
Cleveland grew 3%
New Orleans grew 4%




We had a discussion of why Pittsburgh proper didn't seem to be turning into farmland, but that seemed to be the only option for Detroit proper on an another thread.

Another discussion might be why we don't divorce New York City, Long Island, and maybe Hudson county in NJ from their states, and make it an independent city with two senators. The city has little to do with places like Buffalo, Albany, etc. Many countries in the world governs their biggest cities independently from their state structure.


For under million population

Top 5 for growth

Palm Coast, FL
St. George, UT
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
Provo-Orem, UT
Greeley, CO

Bottom 5 for shrinking

Pine Bluff, AR
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
Johnstown, PA
Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV
Ocean City, NJ

Living in Austin, I can attest to the growth. Most here proclaim to hate it. My answer to them is: "just leave". My house is worth 10X more than it was 20 years ago. I also work for the City so the growth has certainly helped me feel very secure in my employment. Hell, we actually got raises this year when other municipalities were laying off! I'll retire in a few years, sell the house and move somewhere cheaper to live.
Keep coming, y'all!

Quote: texasplumr

I'll retire in a few years, sell the house and move somewhere cheaper to live. Keep coming, y'all!

There was a small movie made in Scotland in 1983 starring Burt Lancaster where a young executive is sent to a small town to purchase the entire town for an oil refinery. It turns out that the townspeople are out to make a financial killing and move into the city, while the executive falls in love with the beautiful rural village and decides he wants to see it preserved.

Quote: pacomartin

There was a small movie made in Scotland in 1983 starring Burt Lancaster where a young executive is sent to a small town to purchase the entire town for an oil refinery. It turns out that the townspeople are out to make a financial killing and move into the city, while the executive falls in love with the beautiful rural village and decides he wants to see it preserved.

Great, GREAT movie!

A bit off topic, but I see that 5.5% (see page 4) of people who listed one race are "some other race." That would include me. For race in my 2010 Census form I wrote in by hand "human race" for myself and kids.

Quote: Wizard

A bit off topic, but I see that 5.5% (see page 4) of people who listed one race are "some other race." That would include me. For race in my 2010 Census form I wrote in by hand "human race" for myself and kids.

I wrote in "Gypsy" for me and my sons last year.

Quote: Wizard

A bit off topic, but I see that 5.5% (see page 4) of people who listed one race are "some other race." That would include me. For race in my 2010 Census form I wrote in by hand "human race" for myself and kids.

I think that is more of West Coast thing. The East Coast has that category as much smaller.

Quote: pacomartin

I think that is more of West Coast thing. The East Coast has that category as much smaller.

Having lived on both coasts, that doesn't surprise me.

Being from the East Coast I enjoy the West coast. It's a good break from culture and substance. :)