The nation’s urban population increased by 12.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, outpacing the nation’s overall growth rate of 9.7 percent for the same period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau released the new list of urban areas today based on 2010 Census results.
Urban areas — defined as densely developed residential, commercial and other nonresidential areas — now account for 80.7 percent of the U.S. population, up from 79.0 percent in 2000. Although the rural population — the population in any areas outside of those classified as “urban” — grew by a modest amount from 2000 to 2010, it continued to decline as a percentage of the national population.
The Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas: “urbanized areas” of 50,000 or more people and “urban clusters” of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 people. There are 486 urbanized areas and 3,087 urban clusters nationwide.
Of the 10 most densely populated urbanized areas, nine are in the West, with seven of those in California. Urbanized areas in the U.S., taken together, had an overall population density of 2,534 people per square mile.
The New York-Newark area continues to be the nation’s most populous urbanized area, with 18,351,295 residents. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is the second most populous (12,150,996), followed by the Chicago area (8,608,208). These areas have been the three most populous since the 1950 Census, when urbanized areas were first defined; however, at that time, Chicago was the second largest. Los Angeles became the second most populous urbanized area in 1960, and the order of the top three has not changed since.
Among urbanized areas with populations of 1 million or more, the Charlotte, N.C.-S.C., area grew at the fastest rate, increasing by 64.6 percent, followed by the Austin, Texas, area, at 51.1 percent, and Las Vegas-Henderson, Nev., at 43.5 percent. The Charlotte and Austin areas also had the highest rates of land area change, increasing by 70.5 percent and 64.4 percent, respectively.
The population within the nation’s 486 urbanized areas grew by 14.3 percent from 2000 to 2010. For any given urbanized area, population increase may be attributed to a combination of internal growth, outward expansion to include new growth, and outward expansion encompassing existing communities that previously were outside the urbanized area.
Based on 2010 Census results, the Census Bureau identified 36 new urbanized areas, including Cape Girardeau, Mo.-Ill. (52,900), Grand Island, Neb. (50,440), Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (53,427), Manhattan, Kan. (54,622), Mankato, Minn. (57,784), Midland, Mich. (59,014), and Sierra Vista, Ariz. (52,745). As a result of changes in criteria and delineation procedures, the Census Bureau identified the Williamsburg, Va., area (75,689) as a separate urbanized area; it previously was part of the larger Virginia Beach, Va.-N.C., urbanized area. As part of its review of urban and rural populations, the Census Bureau also identified 3,087 urban clusters of at least 2,500 and fewer than 50,000 people. Three former urbanized areas are now classified as urban clusters: Danville, Va.-N.C. (49,344), Galveston, Texas (44,022) and Sandusky, Ohio (48,990).