Seattle-Tacoma Metro Growth Ranks 6th Nationwide: Census

SEATTLE — The southern and western United States are home to the counties that experienced the largest increases in population, according to new 2018 estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

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.

According to the Census estimates, the population in King County increased nearly 29,000 residents between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018, earning King County 1st place for numeric growth in Washington and 6th place for numeric growth nationwide between 2017 and 2018.

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.

The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro region was ranked 6th nationwide for growth.

“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:

1. Los Angeles County, California
   
2. Cook County, Illinois
   
3. Harris County, Texas
   
4. Maricopa County, Arizona
   
5. San Diego County, California
   
6. Orange County, California
   
7. Miami-Dade County, Florida
   
8. Dallas County, Texas
   
9. Kings County, New York
   
10. Riverside County, California

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

1. Maricopa County, Arizona
   
2. Clark County, Nevada
   
3. Harris County, Texas
   
4. Collin County, Texas
   
5. Riverside County, California
   
6. King County, Washington
   
7. Orange County, Florida
   
8. Tarrant County, Texas
   
9. Bexar County, Texas
   
10. Hillsborough County, Florida

The top 10 most populous metropolitan areas in 2018 are:

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City
   
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
   
3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
   
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
   
5. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
   
6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
   
7. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
   
8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
   
9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
   
10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton

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

1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
   
2. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale
   
3. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land
   
4. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
   
5. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
   
6. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
   
7. Austin-Round Rock
   
8. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
   
9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
   
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria

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