Denver And El Paso Counties Grew Fastest In 2018: Census

DENVER, CO – Everyone knows Colorado is growing, with new people moving every day, but new 2018 estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show Colorado is not even among the top ten fastest growing states.

Between 2017 and 2018, among the counties with Colorado's largest metros, Denver and El Paso County (home of Colorado Springs) grew the fastest, while Boulder County stayed about the same, the new data showed.

Here are the numbers:

Since 2010, Denver's population has grown almost 20 percent.

Every county in metro Denver grew slightly year over year, the study showed. Douglas County grew the fastest adding 7,108 people, or 2.1 percent of the population.

The Census Bureau said four of the top 10 counties for population growth were in Texas. Just over 55 percent of all U.S. counties had a population gain from 2017 to 2018. And while nearly 56 percent of U.S. counties had a natural increase in population in 2018, that figure was down from the previous year.

On the metro level, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area had the largest numeric growth in population, followed by the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area. A natural increase in population — having more births than deaths — was the largest source of population growth in the Dallas area while domestic migration was the largest source for the Phoenix area, the Census Bureau said.

“One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous are ranked in the top 10 for population growth,” Sandra Johnson, a demographer at the Census Bureau, said in a press release.

According to the Census, the top 10 most populous counties for 2018 are:

Los Angeles County, California
Cook County, Illinois
Harris County, Texas
Maricopa County, Arizona
San Diego County, California
Orange County, California
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Dallas County, Texas
Kings County, New York
Riverside County, California

The top 10 counties for numeric growth between 2017 to 2018 are:

Maricopa County, Arizona
Clark County, Nevada
Harris County, Texas
Collin County, Texas
Riverside County, California
King County, Washington
Orange County, Florida
Tarrant County, Texas
Bexar County, Texas
Hillsborough County, Florida

The top 10 most populous metropolitan areas in 2018 are:

New York-Newark-Jersey City
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Boston-Cambridge-Newton

The top 10 metropolitan areas for numeric growth between 2017 and 2018 are:

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
Austin-Round Rock
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff