The 3.6 million newborns and immigrants who entered New York the past decade outstrip the 3.4 million deaths and out-migrants, according to the census bureau. Without such high levels of immigration, New York would have actually lost population. County population figures won't be released until March, but Westchester and Rockland counties also experienced high immigration and births, fueling estimated total population gains of 3.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Putnam County's overall population increased an estimated 13 percent in the last decade. They're bringing a new energy and vitality that is reinvigorating neighborhoods and the housing market.
Immigration is the saving grace of New York.
New York's population could rise higher if the Census Bureau releases adjusted population figures in March as expected, he said. Those figures are statistically modified to include residents whom the bureau believes were missed in the actual Census. In the 1990 census, the bureau said it missed 272,000 New Yorkers. Out-migration has clearly had a negative effect on the growth of local economies. Maura Gallucci, a spokeswoman for Empire State Development, the state's economic development arm, said New York's lackluster economy in the early '90s caused people to flee the state.