Census Bureau releases July 1, 2007 state population estimates

[SteveD]

The Census Bureau has released its latest State population estimates for July 1, 2007. The estimates show that Nevada is once again growing at the fastest rate (a title it has held for most of the past two decades, though it was temporarily displaced by AZ last year). The top four states for population growth rate are all in the west (NV, AZ, UT, ID). The fastest growing state east of the Mississippi is Georgia. The Census Bureau estimated that Rhode Island and Michigan both lost population over the year, and that Ohio was flat.

Here's a link to a CNN story:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/27/sta....ap/index.html

Here's a link to a page at the Census Bureau's website where you can download an Excel table with data from the Census Bureau for every state:

http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html

Top 5 for Rate of Growth July 2006 through July 2007:

Nevada: 2.93%
Arizona: 2.81%
Utah: 2.55%
Idaho: 2.43%
Georgia: 2.17%

Top 5 for numerical increase July 2006 through July 2007:

Texas: 496,751
California: 303,343
Georgia: 202,670
Florida: 193,735
North Carolina: 191,590

[Trae]

Out of that 202,000 for Georgia, probably 160,000 moved to Atlanta. And you should probably repost this in the City Discussions section. This section is like the tales from the crypt.

[plinko]

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by Trae

Out of that 202,000 for Georgia, probably 160,000 moved to Atlanta. And you should probably repost this in the City Discussions section. This section is like the tales from the crypt.

Trae: I know this section is from the crypt but when I've started population threads in the past moderators have moved them in here. It pisses me off, but what can I do?

[plinko]

2007 Largest States by Population:

California 36,553,215
Texas 23,904,380
New York 19,297,729
Florida 18,251,243
Illinois 12,852,548
Pennsylvania 12,432,792
Ohio 11,466,917
Michigan 10,071,822
Georgia 9,544,750
North Carolina 9,061,032
New Jersey 8,685,920
Virginia 7,712,091
Washington 6,468,424
Massachusetts 6,449,755
Indiana 6,345,289
Arizona 6,338,755
Tennessee 6,156,719
Missouri 5,878,415
Maryland 5,618,344
Wisconsin 5,601,640
Minnesota 5,197,621
Colorado 4,861,515
Alabama 4,627,851
South Carolina 4,407,709
Louisiana 4,293,204
Kentucky 4,241,474
Oregon 3,747,455
Oklahoma 3,617,316
Connecticut 3,502,309
Iowa 2,988,046
Mississippi 2,918,785
Arkansas 2,834,797
Kansas 2,775,997
Utah 2,645,330
Nevada 2,565,382
New Mexico 1,969,915
West Virginia 1,812,035
Nebraska 1,774,571
Idaho 1,499,402
Maine 1,317,207
New Hampshire 1,315,828
Hawaii 1,283,388
Rhode Island 1,057,832
Montana 957,861
Delaware 864,764
South Dakota 796,214
Alaska 683,478
North Dakota 639,715
Vermont 621,254
District of Columbia588,292
Wyoming 522,830

[LMich]

It seems like only a matter of time (and short time, at that) before Georgia, and maybe even North Carolina passes up Michigan. I do question this particular loss number for Michigan, though. Just a few weeks ago the city of Detroit was found by the Census to have been undercounted nearly 50,000 people. I think the situation, population-wise, is much closer to Ohio with maybe a loss or gain of a few thousand. A UofM economist, here, also predicts that this 06-07 loss may be a blurb in this decade when we look at 2010 because of the massive buyouts in the auto industry that gave people the means to look elsewere. Michigan is no doubt stagnant, but it may very well still place a very small growth when the numbers come out in 2010, as its still 1.3% over its 2000 count. This decade will be very similar to the 80's when Michigan posted 0.4% 'growth'.

[Trae]

I can't believe NJ is not larger in population. It always feels bigger than that.

[SteveD]

LMich; true. One interesting thing is that for projections (not estimates) the Census Bureau puts North Carolina at more people than Georgia 20 or 30 years out. Georgia has been widening the gap between it and North Carolina in recent years, but I guess the Census Bureau has cause to believe that will change in the future...

[Trae]

Maybe the Census believes that North Carolina, having more major metro areas, may outpace the one major metro area in Georgia: Atlanta. NC also has those smaller sized metro areas around the state like Georgia does.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Trae

I can't believe NJ is not larger in population. It always feels bigger than that.

You can't believe that that tiny state doesn't have more than 8.6 million people? Huh?

Steve, I'm not sure what you were responding to. I know too little about Georgia and North Carolina to know how close they will remain in population, and didn't really touch on that, at all. I touched on the fact that it seems very likely both N.C. and Georgia will likely pass up Michigan in the not too distant future if Michigan keeps stagnating.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by LMich

You can't believe that that tiny state doesn't have more than 8.6 million people? Huh?

Steve, I'm not sure what you were responding to. I know too little about Georgia and North Carolina to know how close they will remain in population, and didn't really touch on that, at all. I touched on the fact that it seems very likely both N.C. and Georgia will likely pass up Michigan in the not too distant future if Michigan keeps stagnating.

LMich, I was just agreeing with you that, yes, both Georgia and North Carolina are likely to pass Michigan in population soon; I was just adding the interesting tidbit that, when that happens, North Carolina may be larger in population than Georgia, even though recent population gains wouldn't suggest that. My apologies if that was a bit off tangent...i'm a population statistic freak.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by SteveD

LMich, I was just agreeing with you that, yes, both Georgia and North Carolina are likely to pass Michigan in population soon; I was just adding the interesting tidbit that, when that happens, North Carolina may be larger in population than Georgia, even though recent population gains wouldn't suggest that. My apologies if that was a bit off tangent...i'm a population statistic freak.

Those were census projections for 2000. Things have probably changed since then. NC has no comparative advantage over GA though with regards to population capacity. GA does have a more pro-growth tax code than NC though.

LMich, if you want an eqivalent Midwestern comparison in terms of intrastate population distribution, NC=OH, and GA=IL.

[Trae]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

Those were census projections for 2000. Things have probably changed since then. NC has no comparative advantage over GA though with regards to population capacity. GA does have a more pro-growth tax code than NC though.

LMich, if you want an eqivalent Midwestern comparison in terms of intrastate population distribution, NC=OH, and GA=IL.

That is pretty accurate. Atlanta is the Chicago of Georgia. Charlotte, The Triad, and The Triangle are the Cincy, Cleveland, and Columbus of NC.

[LMich]

That makes sense to me.

[Phoenix22]

Arizona is probably ahead of Indiana and Mass by now, and getting close to overtake WA

[vertex]

Top 10 states for numerical increase, from July 2000 through July 2007:

Texas: 3,052,560
California: 2,681,567
Florida: 2,268,865
Georgia: 1,358,297
Arizona: 1,208,123
North Carolina: 1,011,719
Virginia: 633,576
Washington: 574,303
Nevada: 567,125
Colorado: 560,254

Top 10 states for rate of growth, from July 2000 through July 2007:

Nevada: 28.38%
Arizona: 23.55%
Utah: 18.46%
Georgia: 16.59%
Idaho: 15.88%
Texas: 14.64%
Florida: 14.20%
Colorado: 13.03%
North Carolina: 12.57%
Delaware: 10.36%

[tocoto]

Interesting if unimportant point...

If New England were a state instead of a small region with 6 small states its population would be 14,264,185 in an area slightly larger than Georgia.