Here are the fastest growing and shrinking counties in the US
- The US Census Bureau recently released population estimates for each United States county in 2017.
- Some of the fastest-growing areas in the US include the suburbs of big cities in the South and the West.
The suburbs of big southern and western cities in the United States are growing very quickly.
The US Census Bureau recently released its 2017 population estimates for each county in the US. We took a look at the percent change in population for each of those counties between 2016 and 2017.
The map below shows the increase or decrease in population over for each of the 3,142 counties and county equivalents in the US. One of the most visually apparent sets of big winners are the counties surrounding big cities in the South, like Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Nashville.
Businesses are taking note of those booming southern metro areas. Goldman Sachs recently upped its game in the region, sending partner David Dase to Atlanta to start a full-fledged investment banking operation in the city.
Some of the counties with the biggest drops in population come from oil-heavy regions in West Texas, Oklahoma, and along the border between North Dakota and Montana.
Here's the estimated percent growth or decline in total population for each of the 3,142 counties and county equivalents in the US between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017:
Here are the 10 counties with populations above 10,000 in both 2016 and 2017 that had the biggest percent increases in population. All 10 are in the South and West:
And here are the 10 counties with the biggest decreases. Despite the overall trend of quicker population growth in the South and West, the 10 biggest declines came from those regions:
