A bigger apple: New York City population hits 8.8 million
New York City, long the country’s largest metropolis, grew more populous over the past decade — adding 629,000 people to bring its population to more than 8.8 million, according to U.S. census data released Thursday, underscoring the demographic shifts that are further concentrating the country’s population in its largest urban areas.
Other surging large cities in the Sun Belt also gained ground and, despite the Big Apple’s growth, New York state overall did not keep pace with growth in some other big states because of continuing population declines upstate.
Los Angeles remained the nation’s second-largest city with nearly 3.9 million people. Phoenix, now the country’s fifth most populous city, grew the fastest among the largest U.S. cities over the past decade with an 11.2% surge in population compared to the 7.7% increase in New York. Houston and Dallas also grew robustly.