It's a lazy rainy afternoon in Atlanta so I thought I'd throw up the latest population estimates released by the Census Bureau for US Metros, top 20. These are the metropolitan area estimates (not the combined statistical area estimates). Top gainers over the last year (in numbers, not percent) were 1. Dallas-Ft Worth-Arlington, 2. Houston-Sugarland-Baytown, 3. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, 4. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, and 5. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana. The number shown is the July 1, 2008 estimate.
1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Is., NY-NJ-PA 19,006,798
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 12,872,808
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 9,569,624
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 6,300,006
5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 5,838,471
6. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 5,728,143
7. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 5,414,772
8. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 5,376,285
9. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 5,358,130
10. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4,522,858
11. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 4,425,110
12. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 4,281,899
13. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 4,274,531
14. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,115,871
15. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,344,813
16. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 3,229,878
17. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 3,001,072
18. St. Louis, MO-IL 2,816,710
19. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2,733,761
20. Baltimore-Towson, MD 2,667,117