US metros are rising, many reverses in 2021 are down

DALLAS – flights from urban areas According to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, those that occurred during the first year of the pandemic either reversed or slowed in the second year, with metros in Texas and Florida booming last year and declines in New York and Los Angeles halved .

During the first full year of the pandemic in 2021, more than half of the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas lost residentsand all US metro areas rose just 0.1%, as fear of the virus forced residents to leave the most densely populated urban areas and the popularity of telecommuting allowed people to live far from their workplaces.

By comparison, only eight of the 20 largest metros contracted in 2022, and all US metros grew by 0.4%. Washington, D.C., Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, Minneapolis and San Diego were among the largest U.S. metropolitan areas to gain in 2022 after losses in 2021, according to 2022 population estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw the largest increase among U.S. metros, jumping by six figures for the second year in a row after adding another 170,000 residents last year. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area’s 7.9 million residents made it the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area, trailing only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, all of which lost population last year, but with much smaller losses compared to the first year of the pandemic.

Other metropolitan areas that saw the largest population growth were Houston, adding more than 124,000 residents; Atlanta, with nearly 79,000 new residents; Phoenix with an additional nearly 73,000 people; and Orlando, Florida, adding nearly 65,000 new residents.

Metro Phoenix also passed the 5 million mark for the first time last year.

There were other signs that the pandemic-related migration of 2021 had changed a year later.

Boise, Idaho, and Provo, Utah — two metros that were popular destinations in 2021 for residents fleeing the West Coast’s most populous cities — dropped out of the top 20 for population growth in 2022.

Similarly, smaller communities known as micro-political statistical areas grew by 0.1% last year, compared to 0.2% in 2021.

Metropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties containing a central city with a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants, which together have a high degree of economic and social connectivity. A central city in a micro-political statistical area must have at least 10,000 inhabitants but no more than 50,000 inhabitants.

Population changes are driven by migration, including within the US when people move and abroad when people arrive from abroad. It also depends on the number of births and deaths in the community. The data published on Thursday do not show the reasons for the population change, but similar data at the county level, published in March, showed that this was mainly caused by international migration.

Individually, the cities that make up the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area were among the fastest growing in the U.S. last year. With 19,100 new residents, the city of Fort Worth led the nation, followed by the city of Phoenix with more than 19,000 additional residents and the city of San Antonio, Texas, with more than 18,800 residents.

Two other cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area — Dallas and Frisco — were also among those with the most dramatic increases, jumping by 8,800 residents and 8,500 residents, respectively. These new residents were a strong economy, mild winters and good schools beckoned.

Village, Florida, a relatively new retirement community northwest of Orlando, was the fastest-growing U.S. area between 2021 and 2022, increasing by 7.5%.