Apple Valley Population Growth in Metro-Area Top 10 for 2010-11

Among cities in the seven-county Twin Cities metro, Apple Valley came in as the city with the seventh-most residents added from 2010 to 2011, according to the Metropolitan Council.

Apple Valley added 717 residents in that span, according to data released Monday by the Met Council, for a total 49,801 people.

The seven-county metro grew by 0.8 percent during that span, bringing the population up to 2.87 million. Minneapolis led the pack with 5,295 new residents, followed by St. Paul with 1,299, and then Woodbury, Blaine, Maple Grove and Bloomington. Plymouth, Lakeville and Shakopee round out the top 10.

The latest Met Council numbers are a continuation of the figures from 2010 U.S. Census, which from 2000 to 2010.

In Rosemount, the population in 2000 was 14,619. Fast forward to 2010, and the population grew nearly 50 percent to 21,874 people, Census statistics show. From 2010 to 2011, Rosemount added 265 people to its population, according to Met Council statistics.

In a statement, Met Council Chair Susan Haigh said she’s “pleased to see growth occurring primarily where there’s infrastructure to support it.

“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,” she said.

The “modest growth” is also good to see as the nation continues to recover from the recession, Haigh said.

“Now, more than ever, Council policies of guiding growth primarily to those areas where infrastructure investments have and are being made will help the region thrive and compete globally, in spite of drastically different and changing national and world economic circumstances,” she said.

Read more and see more population statistics from the Met Council.