Many Florida cities are still booming. While populations climbed for most of the 387 US metro areas from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, a handful of Florida locations were among the places that grew the fastest. The Census Bureau published new population data on Thursday, showing how population, births and deaths, and net migration looked for places across the country, including for metros and counties. While two Florida metros grew the fastest, the metro area of Myrtle Beach fell right behind it. Positive net domestic migration, or more people moving in than out within the US, was the main factor for the majority of the 15 fastest-growing metros. Midland and Odessa in Texas , which both experienced pandemic-era population declines, were also among the fastest-growing places last year. Immigration was a big source of new residents for many cities. "Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration," Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau's population division, said. "While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas." Just a few dozen metro areas had population declines last year, and those drops were relatively small. Fairbanks-College, Alaska, which is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, shrunk the fastest. Its population fell by about 0.8%, largely due to more people moving out than in domestically. A lot of counties and county equivalents saw growth. The Census Bureau found about two-third of these 3,144 areas had population increases from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024.
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