Census: 308.7 million people live here

chart_census_pop.top.gif By Les Christie, staff writer


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The population of the United States grew 9.7% to 308.7 million people over the past decade -- the slowest rate of growth since the Great Depression -- the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

In the 1930s, the population grew by just 7.3%. Comparatively, the nation added 13.2% more residents during the 1990s. (See CNN's special Census coverage.)

This is the first time the Census Bureau has released data from the population surveys filled out earlier this year. And the counts include everyone -- not just citizens or legal immigrants.

"The mandate is to count everyone living in the United States," said a Census Bureau spokeswoman.

The U.S. Constitution charges the Census Bureau with the task of counting residents every 10 years to track population shifts in the country. And the law requires the Census to report the official population counts -- both national and by state -- to the President before Jan. 1. The numbers are used to apportion Congressional seats.

"The Census forms the backbone for our political and economic systems for years to come," said U.S. Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke.

The results were seen as a blow to Obama and a win for Republicans because most of the states losing electoral votes and seats in the House of Representatives, such as New York, Massachussetts and New Jersey, lean toward or are heavily Democratic while many of the ones gaining seats, such as Texas and Arizona, are Republican strongholds.

The winners are concentrated in two of the nation's four regions: Both the West and the South experienced double-digit growth rates, 14.3% in the South, already the most heavily populated region, and 13.8% in the West. The Midwest rose 3.9% and the Northeast grew 3.2%

Nevada was the fastest growing state over the decade, followed by Arizona and Utah. Michigan was the big loser, with Rhode Island, Ohio and Louisiana also lagging badly.

The five biggest states are California, ranked first with more than 37 million residents, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. (Table of state population is at the bottom of this story.)

The least populous state, with fewer than a 600,000 residents, is Wyoming. Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska and South Dakota round out the bottom five, all with fewer than a million people.

Census Bureau director Robert Groves said that natural replacement accounted for about 60% of the growth this past decade while immigration made up the remaining 40%. But growth slowed dramatically because the birth rate fell during the decade and fewer people moved to the U.S.

The country's fertility rate is nearly 2.1 children per woman, just about the natural replacement rate, according to data from the United Nations World Population Prospects. That is down from the baby-boom years, when it hit a peak of 3.7, but above most developed countries.

And the recent recession resulted in a slowing immigration rate, according to Carl Haub, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based non-profit. "The population growth rate drop is largely because of a couple percentage point dip in immigration," he said.

"India's technicians and engineers who came here sent word back home that it's hard now," Haub added. "The IT industry is not the golden goose it's been in the past."

Despite the slowdown, the nation's growth rate is much higher than most developed countries. The populations of Japan and Germany, for example, are in decline, while France and the United Kingdom are growing at a rate of 5% per decade. To top of page

How many neighbors do you have?
The United States population now tops 308 million people. How many of them live in your state?
State Population 2010 Growth rate Rank based on total residents
Alabama 4,779,736 7.5% 23
Alaska 710,231 13.3% 47
Arizona 6,392,017 24.6% 16
Arkansas 2,915,918 9.1% 32
California 37,253,956 10% 1
Colorado 5,029,196 16.9% 22
Connecticut 3,574,097 4.9% 29
Delaware 897,934 14.6% 45
District of Columbia 601,723 5.2% NA
Florida 18,801,310 17.6% 4
Georgia 9,687,653 18.3% 9
Hawaii 1,360,301 12.3% 40
Idaho 1,567,582 21.1% 39
Illinois 12,830,632 3.3% 5
Indiana 6,483,802 6.6% 15
Iowa 3,046,355 4.1% 30
Kansas 2,853,118 6.1% 33
Kentucky 4,339,367 7.4% 26
Louisiana 4,533,372 1.4% 25
Maine 1,328,361 4.2% 41
Maryland 5,773,552 9% 19
Massachusetts 6,547,629 3.1% 14
Michigan 9,883,640 -0.6% 8
Minnesota 5,303,925 7.8% 21
Mississippi 2,967,297 4.3% 31
Missouri 5,988,927 7% 18
Montana 989,415 9.7% 44
Nebraska 1,826,341 6.7% 38
Nevada 2,700,551 35.1% 35
New Hampshire 1,316,470 6.5% 42
New Jersey 8,791,894 4.5% 11
New Mexico 2,059,179 13.2% 36
New York 19,378,102 2.1% 3
North Carolina 9,535,483 18.5% 10
North Dakota 672,591 4.7% 48
Ohio 11,536,504 1.6% 7
Oklahoma 3,751,351 8.7% 28
Oregon 3,831,074 12% 27
Pennsylvania 12,702,379 3.4% 6
Rhode Island 1,052,567 0.4% 43
South Carolina 4,625,364 15.3% 24
South Dakota 814,180 7.9% 46
Tennessee 6,346,105 11.5% 17
Texas 25,145,561 20.6% 2
Utah 2,763,885 23.8% 34
Vermont 625,741 2.8% 49
Virginia 8,001,024 13% 12
Washington 6,724,540 14.1% 13
West Virginia 1,852,994 2.5% 37
Wisconsin 5,686,986 6% 20
Wyoming 563,626 14.1% 50
Source: Census Bureau 2010
Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.