In Census 2000, 281.4 million people

were counted in the United States, a 

13.2 percent increase from the 1990 

census population of 248.7 million.

Population growth from 1990 to 2000

varied geographically, with large population increases in some areas and little

growth or decline in others. This report,

part of a series that analyzes population

and housing data collected from Census

2000, highlights population size and distribution changes between 1990 and

2000 in regions, states, metropolitan

areas, counties, and large cities.1

The 1990 to 2000

population increase was the

largest in American history.

The population growth of

32.7 million people between

1990 and 2000 represents

the largest census-to-census

increase in American history.2

The previous record increase

was 28.0 million people

between 1950 and 1960, a

gain fueled primarily by the

post-World War II baby boom

(1946 to 1964). Total decennial population growth

declined steadily in the three

decades following the 1950s’

peak before rising again in

the 1990s (see Figure 1). 

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

1990 to

2000

Issued April 2001

C2KBR/01-2

Population Change and Distribution

Census 2000 Brief

By 

Marc J. Perry and 

Paul J. Mackun 

(With Josephine D. Baker,

Colleen D. Joyce,

Lisa R. Lollock, and

Lucinda S. Pearson)

Figure 1.

U.S. Population Growth: 1950-60 

to 1990-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and 

Housing Unit Counts, United States (1990 CPH-2-1).

Growth (in millions)

Percent change

18.4

13.4

11.4

9.8

13.2

28.0

24.0 23.0 22.0

32.7

1950-60 1960-70 1970-80 1980-90 1990-2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

1 1990 populations shown in this

report were originally published in

1990 Census reports and do not

include subsequent revisions resulting

from boundary or other changes. 2 This increase may be caused by

changes in census coverage, as well as

births, deaths, and net immigration.
In percentage terms, the population

increase of 13.2 percent for the

1990s was higher than the growth

rates of 9.8 percent for the 1980s

and 11.4 percent for the 1970s.

The 1990s growth rate was similar

to the 13.4 percent growth in the

1960s and was well below the 

18.4 percent growth for the 1950s.

West grew fastest in the 1990s;

South reached 100 million.

Population growth varied significantly by region in the 1990s, with

higher rates in the West (19.7 percent) and South (17.3 percent) and

much lower rates in the Midwest

(7.9 percent) and Northeast 

(5.5 percent).3 The West increased

by 10.4 million to reach 63.2 million people, while the South grew

by 14.8 million to a population of

100.2 million people. The Midwest

gained 4.7 million to reach 

64.4 million people, and the

Northeast’s increase of 2.8 million

brought it to 53.6 million people. 

Because of differences in growth

rates, the regional shares of the

total population have shifted considerably in recent decades.

Between 1950 and 2000, the

South’s share of the population

increased from 31 to 36 percent

and the West increased from 13 to

22 percent. Meanwhile, despite

overall population growth in each of

the past five decades, the Midwest’s

share of total population fell from

29 to 23 percent and the

2 U.S. Census Bureau

3 The Northeast region includes Connecticut,

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,

and Vermont. The Midwest includes Illinois,

Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,

Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South

Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South includes

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of

Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,

Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina,

Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,

Virginia, and West Virginia. The West includes

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,

Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Table 1.

U.S. Population Change for Regions, States, and Puerto

Rico: 1990 to 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

Area

Population Change, 1990 to 2000

April 1, 1990 April 1, 2000 Number Percent

United States ........... 248,709,873 281,421,906 32,712,033 13.2

Region

Northeast . ................ 50,809,229 53,594,378 2,785,149 5.5

Midwest .................. 59,668,632 64,392,776 4,724,144 7.9

South .................... 85,445,930 100,236,820 14,790,890 17.3

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,786,082 63,197,932 10,411,850 19.7

State

Alabama.................. 4,040,587 4,447,100 406,513 10.1

Alaska ................... 550,043 626,932 76,889 14.0

Arizona. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,665,228 5,130,632 1,465,404 40.0

Arkansas ................. 2,350,725 2,673,400 322,675 13.7

California ................. 29,760,021 33,871,648 4,111,627 13.8

Colorado ................. 3,294,394 4,301,261 1,006,867 30.6

Connecticut ............... 3,287,116 3,405,565 118,449 3.6

Delaware ................. 666,168 783,600 117,432 17.6

District of Columbia . . . ...... 606,900 572,059 –34,841 –5.7

Florida ................... 12,937,926 15,982,378 3,044,452 23.5

Georgia . . ................ 6,478,216 8,186,453 1,708,237 26.4

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,108,229 1,211,537 103,308 9.3

Idaho .................... 1,006,749 1,293,953 287,204 28.5

Illinois.................... 11,430,602 12,419,293 988,691 8.6

Indiana ................... 5,544,159 6,080,485 536,326 9.7

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,776,755 2,926,324 149,569 5.4

Kansas................... 2,477,574 2,688,418 210,844 8.5

Kentucky ................. 3,685,296 4,041,769 356,473 9.7

Louisiana . . . .............. 4,219,973 4,468,976 249,003 5.9

Maine .................... 1,227,928 1,274,923 46,995 3.8

Maryland ................. 4,781,468 5,296,486 515,018 10.8

Massachusetts ............. 6,016,425 6,349,097 332,672 5.5

Michigan. ................. 9,295,297 9,938,444 643,147 6.9

Minnesota ................ 4,375,099 4,919,479 544,380 12.4

Mississippi ................ 2,573,216 2,844,658 271,442 10.5

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,117,073 5,595,211 478,138 9.3

Montana. . . ............... 799,065 902,195 103,130 12.9

Nebraska . . ............... 1,578,385 1,711,263 132,878 8.4

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,201,833 1,998,257 796,424 66.3

New Hampshire ............ 1,109,252 1,235,786 126,534 11.4

New Jersey ............... 7,730,188 8,414,350 684,162 8.9

New Mexico ............... 1,515,069 1,819,046 303,977 20.1

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,990,455 18,976,457 986,002 5.5

North Carolina ............. 6,628,637 8,049,313 1,420,676 21.4

North Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638,800 642,200 3,400 0.5

Ohio . .................... 10,847,115 11,353,140 506,025 4.7

Oklahoma. ................ 3,145,585 3,450,654 305,069 9.7

Oregon................... 2,842,321 3,421,399 579,078 20.4

Pennsylvania .............. 11,881,643 12,281,054 399,411 3.4

Rhode Island .............. 1,003,464 1,048,319 44,855 4.5

South Carolina ............. 3,486,703 4,012,012 525,309 15.1

South Dakota .............. 696,004 754,844 58,840 8.5

Tennessee ................ 4,877,185 5,689,283 812,098 16.7

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,986,510 20,851,820 3,865,310 22.8

Utah . .................... 1,722,850 2,233,169 510,319 29.6

Vermont .................. 562,758 608,827 46,069 8.2

Virginia................... 6,187,358 7,078,515 891,157 14.4

Washington ............... 4,866,692 5,894,121 1,027,429 21.1

West Virginia .............. 1,793,477 1,808,344 14,867 0.8

Wisconsin................. 4,891,769 5,363,675 471,906 9.6

Wyoming . . . .............. 453,588 493,782 40,194 8.9

Puerto Rico ................ 3,522,037 3,808,610 286,573 8.1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and Housing Unit Counts,

United States (1990 CPH-2-1).
Northeast’s proportion declined

from 26 to 19 percent. 

Every state grew; Nevada’s

rate was fastest.

State population growth for the

1990s ranged from a high of 66 percent in Nevada to a low of 0.5 percent in North Dakota (see Table 1).

This decade was the only one in the

20th Century in which all states

gained population. Following

Nevada, the fastest growing states

were Arizona (40 percent), Colorado

(31 percent), Utah (30 percent), and

Idaho (29 percent). Following North

Dakota, the slowest growing states

were West Virginia (0.8 percent),

Pennsylvania (3.4 percent),

Connecticut (3.6 percent), and Maine

(3.8 percent). Puerto Rico’s population grew by 8.1 percent to reach 

3.8 million, while the District of

Columbia declined by 5.7 percent. 

California had the largest population increase during the 1990s,

adding 4.1 million people to its

population. Texas (up 3.9 million),

Florida (3.0 million), Georgia 

(1.7 million), and Arizona (1.5 million) rounded out the top five

largest gaining states.

Within the Northeast, New

Hampshire grew fastest for the

fourth straight decade — up 11 percent since 1990. New York and New

Jersey gained the most population,

increasing by 986,000 and 684,000

respectively. In the Midwest,

Minnesota was the fastest growing

state for the third straight decade,

growing by 12 percent since 1990.

Illinois (up 989,000) and Michigan

(up 643,000) had the largest

numerical increases.

While no state in the Midwest grew

faster than the U.S. rate of 13.2 percent, several states in the region

had their fastest growth rates in

many decades. Nebraska’s 8 percent increase and Iowa’s 5 percent

increase were the highest growth

rates for those states since their

1910 to 1920 increases of 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Missouri’s 9 percent increase was its

highest since a 16 percent increase

from 1890 to 1900.

In the South, Georgia was the

fastest growing state, up by 26 percent since 1990. This was Georgia’s

most rapid census-to-census population growth rate in the 20th

Century, and the 1990s was the

only decade in that century when

Florida was not the South’s fastest

growing state.4 Texas (up 3.9 million) and Florida (up 3.0 million)

had the largest numerical increases. 

Growth in the West was led by

Nevada, now the country’s fastest

growing state for each of the past

four decades. Of the 13 states in

the region, only Wyoming (8.9 percent), Hawaii (9.3 percent), and

Montana (12.9 percent) grew slower

than the U.S. rate of 13.2 percent. 

The majority of Americans lived

in the ten most populous states. 

The ten most populous states contained 54 percent of the population

in 2000. California, with 33.9 million people, was the most populous

one, accounting for 12 percent of

the nation’s population. The second

and third most populous states —

Texas, at 20.9 million people, and

New York, at 19.0 million — together accounted for 14 percent of the

U.S. population. The next seven

most populous states — Florida,

Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan,

New Jersey, and Georgia — contained

an additional 28 percent of the population. The ten most populous

states are distributed among all four

regions: three each in the Northeast,

the Midwest, and the South, with

one in the West. 

The ten least populous states

accounted for only 3 percent of the

total population. Of the ten, three

are in the Northeast (New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, and

Vermont), two in the Midwest

(North Dakota and South Dakota),

one in the South (Delaware) and

four in the West (Hawaii, Montana,

Alaska, and Wyoming).

Most counties grew, while

some lost population.

Figure 2 shows population growth

between 1990 and 2000 for the

country’s 3,141 counties and equivalent areas. Some broad patterns

are immediately evident. A band of

counties that lost population — in

some cases declining more than 

10 percent — stretches across the

Great Plains states from the

Mexican border to the Canadian

border. A second band of slow

growth counties includes much of

the interior Northeast and

Appalachia, extending from Maine

through western Pennsylvania and

West Virginia to eastern Kentucky.

Rapid population growth occurred

in the interior West and much of

the South — particularly in counties

in Florida, northern Georgia, North

Carolina, Tennessee, southwestern

Missouri, and eastern, central, and

southern Texas. 

Figure 2 underscores the continued

concentration of population growth

both within and adjacent to metropolitan areas.5 In Texas, for

U.S. Census Bureau 3

4 Washington, DC, treated as a state equivalent for statistical purposes, had a larger percent gain than Florida in the 1910s and 1930s. 

5 This report uses the June 30, 1999, metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of

Management and Budget for all 1990 and 2000

metropolitan area populations. All metropolitan

areas in the text are either metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) or consolidated metropolitan

statistical areas (CMSAs). There are 276 metropolitan areas in the United States—258 MSAs

and 18 CMSAs. In some cases, an abbreviated

version of the full MSA or CMSA name was used

in the text and tables.
U

13

Percent Population Change:1990 to 2000

U

13

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, anddefinitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

Figure 2.

0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 

0 100 Miles

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 RedistrictingData (P.L. 94-171) Summary File. American FactFinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools.

4 U.S. Census Bureau
instance, the Dallas, Houston,

Austin, and San Antonio metropolitan areas show up as pockets of

fast population growth, while most

of the nonmetropolitan counties in

the state recorded either slow

growth or population decline. 

In the slow growing upper Midwest,

the rapid growth of counties in the

Sioux Falls, South Dakota and

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

metropolitan areas stands in sharp

contrast to the population declines

that occurred in most of the region’s

other counties. The Minneapolis-St.

Paul metropolitan area has a common growth pattern: slow expansion in the central county or counties and faster growth in outlying

counties. In the South, the Atlanta,

Georgia metropolitan area also

shows this pattern, with a large

group of fast growing, primarily

outlying, counties surrounding two

slower growing central counties. 

Population growth also differed

between counties bordering Canada

and those counties bordering

Mexico.6 Between 1990 and 2000,

the counties on the Mexican border

grew rapidly, up 21 percent. In

contrast, the population on the

Canadian border remained stable

over the period, increasing just 

0.8 percent, with many counties

experiencing population decline. In

2000, 6.3 million Americans lived in

counties that bordered Mexico,

while 5.0 million resided in counties

bordering Canada. 

Growth differences between coastal

and noncoastal counties are also

evident in Figure 2, particularly in

the West, where coastal counties

grew more slowly than noncoastal

ones.7 Nationwide, while some

coastal counties grew rapidly in the

1990s, their overall growth rate of

11 percent was exceeded by that of

noncoastal counties (up 15 percent). Over one half of all

Americans (53 percent or 148.3 million people) lived in a coastal county in 2000. 

Five counties more than doubled

their populations during the 1990s.

Douglas County, Colorado (south of

Denver) had the largest rate of population growth between 1990 and

2000, increasing by 191 percent.

Following Douglas were Forsyth

County, Georgia (north of Atlanta),

up 123 percent; Elbert County,

Colorado (southeast of Denver,

adjacent to the metropolitan area),

up 106 percent; Henry County,

Georgia (east of Atlanta), 103 percent; and Park County, Colorado

(southwest of Denver), up 102 percent. 

Large metropolitan areas had

strong growth in 1990s.

In 2000, 80.3 percent of Americans

(226.0 million people) lived in metropolitan areas, up slightly from

79.8 percent (198.4 million people)

in 1990 (see Table 2). The population within metropolitan areas

increased by 14 percent, while the

nonmetropolitan population grew

by 10 percent.

Almost one-third of Americans 

(30 percent) lived in metropolitan

areas of at least 5.0 million people,

while those with populations

between 2.0 million and 5.0 million

contained 14 percent of the population. Metropolitan areas with populations between 1.0 million and 

2.0 million contained 13 percent of

the population, while those with

populations between 250,000 and

1.0 million and those with populations less than 250,000 contained

16 percent and 7 percent of the

population, respectively. 

Metropolitan areas with populations

of 2.0 million to 5.0 million in 2000

grew the fastest, up 20 percent.

The largest and smallest metropolitan area size categories, those with

populations of 5.0 million or more

and those with populations less

than 250,000, each grew by about

11 percent. 

U.S. Census Bureau 5

Table 2.

Population Change and 2000 Share by Metropolitan Status

and Size Category: 1990 to 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

Population size category

Population Percent

change,

1990 to 2000

2000

share of

April 1, 1990 April 1, 2000 U.S. total

United States . . . . . . . . . 248,709,873 281,421,906 13.2 100.0

Total for all metropolitan

areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198,402,980 225,981,679 13.9 80.3

5,000,000 or more. . . . . . . . 75,874,152 84,064,274 10.8 29.9

2,000,000 - 4,999,999 . . . . 33,717,876 40,398,283 19.8 14.4

1,000,000 - 1,999,999 . . . . 31,483,749 37,055,342 17.7 13.2

250,000 - 999,999. . . . . . . . 39,871,391 45,076,105 13.1 16.0

Less than 250,000. . . . . . . . 17,455,812 19,387,675 11.1 6.9

Total nonmetropolitan . . . . . . . 50,306,893 55,440,227 10.2 19.7

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and Housing Unit

Counts, United States (1990 CPH-2-1).

6 The United States-Mexico county-based

border region includes 25 counties in Texas,

New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The

United States-Canada county-based border

region includes 64 counties in Maine, New

Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Michigan,

Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho,

Washington, and Alaska.

7 Coastal areas as defined by the U.S.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency,

1992. Covers 673 counties and equivalent

areas with at least 15 percent of their land area

either in a coastal watershed (drainage area) or

in a coastal cataloging unit (a coastal area

between watersheds).
As shown in Table 3, New York was

the most populous metropolitan

area, surpassing the 20 million

mark with a population of 21.2 million (7.5 percent of the total population). The Los Angeles metropolitan

area was the second largest, with a

population of 16.4 million (5.8 percent of the total). The third most

populous was Chicago, with 

9.2 million people and 3.3 percent

of the population. The Washington,

DC and San Francisco metropolitan

areas ranked fourth and fifth – with

7.6 million and 7.0 million people,

respectively. Philadelphia ranked

sixth, with 6.2 million people. The

seventh, eighth, and ninth largest

metropolitan areas — Boston,

Detroit, and Dallas — each had populations of between 5 million and 

6 million. All of the metropolitan

areas with populations of at least

5.0 million grew over the period,

ranging from 29 percent for the

Dallas metropolitan area to 5 percent for Philadelphia. 

Between 1990 and 2000, Las Vegas,

Nevada-Arizona was the fastest

growing metropolitan area (83 percent), as shown in Table 4, followed

by Naples, Florida, with a growth

rate of 65 percent, and by seven

other areas with growth rates

between 44 percent and 50 percent:

Yuma, Arizona; McAllen, Texas;

Austin, Texas; Fayetteville,

Arkansas; Boise City, Idaho;

Phoenix, Arizona; and Laredo,

Texas. The tenth fastest growing

area, Provo, Utah, grew by almost

40 percent. Of the ten fastest

growing metropolitan areas in

2000, one had a population

between 2.0 million and 5.0 million;

two had populations between 

1.0 million and 2.0 million, five 

contained populations between

250,000 and 1.0 million, and two

had populations less than 250,000. 

6 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3.

Population Change and 2000 Share for the Largest

Metropolitan Areas: 1990 to 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

Metropolitan area

Population Percent

change,

1990 to

2000

2000

share of

U.S. total

April 1,

1990

April 1,

2000

Total for metropolitan areas of

5,000,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,874,152 84,064,274 10.8 29.9

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long

Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,549,649 21,199,865 8.4 7.5

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County,

CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,531,529 16,373,645 12.7 5.8

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI. . . . . . 8,239,820 9,157,540 11.1 3.3

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV. 6,727,050 7,608,070 13.1 2.7

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA . 6,253,311 7,039,362 12.6 2.5

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,

PA-NJ-DE-MD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,892,937 6,188,463 5.0 2.2

Boston-Worcester-Lawrence,

MA-NH-ME-CT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,455,403 5,819,100 6.7 2.1

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI. . . . . . . . . . . . 5,187,171 5,456,428 5.2 1.9

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,037,282 5,221,801 29.3 1.9

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and Housing Unit

Counts, United States (1990 CPH-2-1).

Table 4.

Population Change for the Ten Fastest Growing

Metropolitan Areas: 1990 to 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

Metropolitan area

Population Change, 1990 to 2000

April 1,

1990

April 1,

2000 Number Percent

Las Vegas, NV-AZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852,737 1,563,282 710,545 83.3

Naples, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152,099 251,377 99,278 65.3

Yuma, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,895 160,026 53,131 49.7

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX . . . . . . . . . . . 383,545 569,463 185,918 48.5

Austin-San Marcos, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846,227 1,249,763 403,536 47.7

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR . . . . . . 210,908 311,121 100,213 47.5

Boise City, ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295,851 432,345 136,494 46.1

Phoenix-Mesa, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,238,480 3,251,876 1,013,396 45.3

Laredo, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133,239 193,117 59,878 44.9

Provo-Orem, UT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263,590 368,536 104,946 39.8

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and Housing Unit

Counts, United States (1990 CPH-2-1).
ADDITIONAL TOPICS ON

POPULATION CHANGE AND

DISTRIBUTION

How did the population

change in the ten largest

American cities?

Eight of the ten largest cities in 2000

gained population in the 1990s; only

Philadelphia and Detroit declined in

size. New York remained the country’s largest city, passing the 8 million

threshold for the first time. Phoenix

was the fastest growing of the 

10 largest cities, up by 34 percent

over the decade. 

New York also had the largest

numerical increase of any city, gaining 686,000 people. The 1990s

was the first decade since the

1930s that New York City led in city

population growth. 

Los Angeles gained the most population in each of the decades from

the 1940s through the 1980s, with

the exception of the 1970s, when

Houston gained the most. 

Have any more counties

crossed the 1 million

population threshold?

Four counties exceeded the 1 million mark for the first time in

Census 2000: Clark County, Nevada

(1.4 million); Palm Beach County,

Florida (1.1 million); Franklin

County, Ohio (1.1 million); and St.

Louis County, Missouri (1.0 million). 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Census 2000 data for state and local

areas are available on the Internet

via factfinder.census.gov and for

purchase on CD-ROM and eventually

on DVD. For information on population change and distribution, as well

as information on the post-censal

population estimates program, visit

the U.S. Census Bureau’s Internet

site at www.census.gov and click on

Estimates. For more information on

metropolitan areas, including concepts, definitions, and maps, go to

www.census.gov/population/www/

estimates/metroarea.html.

Information on other population and

housing topics will be presented in

the Census 2000 Brief Series, located

on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site

at www.census.gov/population/www/

cen2000/briefs.html. This series will

present information about race,

Hispanic origin, age, sex, household

type, housing tenure, and other

social, economic, and housing characteristics. 

For more information about

Census 2000, including data products, call the Customer Services

Center at 301-457-4100 or e-mail

webmaster@census.gov.

U.S. Census Bureau 7

Table 5.

Population Change for the Ten Largest Cities: 1990 to 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf)

City and state

Population Change, 1990 to 2000

April 1, 1990 April 1, 2000 Number Percent

New York, NY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,322,564 8,008,278 685,714 9.4

Los Angeles, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,485,398 3,694,820 209,422 6.0

Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,783,726 2,896,016 112,290 4.0

Houston, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,630,553 1,953,631 323,078 19.8

Philadelphia, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,585,577 1,517,550 –68,027 –4.3

Phoenix, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983,403 1,321,045 337,642 34.3

San Diego, CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,110,549 1,223,400 112,851 10.2

Dallas, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,006,877 1,188,580 181,703 18.0

San Antonio, TX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935,933 1,144,646 208,713 22.3

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,027,974 951,270 –76,704 –7.5

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; 1990 Census, Population and Housing Unit

Counts, United States (1990 CPH-2-1).