Evening star., 1950-07-30
Greater Washington
Ranks 11th Amonu
Metropolitan Areas
By Crosby S. Noyes

Greater Washington, with a
population of 1,452,349, ranks
11th among the major metropoli-
tan areas of the country, the Gen.
sus Bureau announced Yesterday
The totals, based on the pre-
liminary tally of the 1850 popu-
lation count, provides the first
realistic basis for comparison of
the Nations rapidly expanding
urban centers.
1t shows that the pattern of
population movement to subur-
ban areas, already well-recognized
here. is general throughout the
country, with several areas show
ing more pronounced trend than
Washington.
Increase in Fringe Areas.
In four cities-Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Boston and Pittsburgh
the number of suburbanites great
ly outnumber residents within the
cities themselves. In several cases,
the fringe growth within the last
decade more than doubled the
growth within the city limits.
The figures, slightly revising
earlier announcements for Wash
ington's area population, show
that the District has population
of 792.234 Census takers counted
660,115 in the remainder of the
area.
Under new definition OF
metropolitan areas for 1850 CEN
sus, they now consist of entire
counties substantially integral
ed' with the city's activities
Hence, in Washington, the area
includes the whole of Prince
Georges, Montgomery, Arlington
and Fairfax Counties, as we'll as
the independent cities of Alexan-
dria and Falls Church.
Three Cities Hold Positions.
Only three of the cities listed
New York, Chicago and Detroit
rank in the same place by metro
politan area as they do by the
populations of the cities them
selves. In the reshufling of the re-
Imainder, Washington drops from
ninth place among the cities to
11th among the area totals.
The IL ranking metropolitan
areas. according to the prelimi-
nary figures are as follows: New
York, Chicago, Los Angles, Phila-
ielphia, Detroit, Boston, San Fran
cisco. Pittsburgh, st. Louis, Cleve.
land. Washington and Baltimore
The figures show that the cities
which gain most from the inclu-
sion OF their suburban areas are
Boston, San Francisco and Pitts
burgh. AS cities, they rank at the
bottom of the list, 10th, 11th and
18th respectively. In the area
count. however, Boston jumps to
sixth place, San Francisco to
seventh and Pittsburgh, to eighth
Washington, which ranks ninth
among cities. came out ahead OF
Baltimore in the area count. Bal
timore ranks sixth as a city, but
18th in terms Of its metropolitan
area.
In Class With West Coast Cities.
In terms of suburban growth
since 1910, Washington is in a
class with the bustling West Coast
cities of San Francisco and Los
Angeles.
Los Angeles showed an area
growth of 1.314,559 of which 964.-
800 was suburban. San Francisco
showed growth Of 751,680 of
which 625.835 was suburban
Washington showed a growth of
484,364 of which 355, ,221 was sub
urban.
For the purposes of compari-
son, the Census figures for 1910
conform to the present definition
OF the metropolitan area.
The population figures for
Washington show that, while the
city showed an increase for the
l0-year period of less than 20 per
cent. the suburban sections grew
more than 116 per cent. Taken
as a whole, the area showed a
growth Of about so per cent.
Census officials emphasize that
these figures are subject to re-
vision as final official tallies be-
come available at a later date.