Almost three years later, while the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt, the U.S. Census Bureau said the overall population growth pattern in U.S. counties is returning to pre-pandemic rates, especially in Maricopa County. rice field.
“The county’s immigration and growth patterns are approaching pre-pandemic levels this year,” said Dr. Christine Hartley, assistant director of estimates and forecasts for the Census Bureau’s Population Division. in Thursday’s news release.
Data shows that Maricopa County continues to be the fastest growing county in the country and ranks as the fourth largest county in the United States based on population.
Here’s what you need to know about Maricopa County’s population growth and what other counties in the United States are doing.
About half of U.S. counties will grow in 2022
Between 2021 and 2022, just over half (52.5%) of U.S. counties will see population growth. Compared to last year, that number has decreased from 55.7% previously.
Approximately 1,482 counties experienced a population decline (47.1%) and only 11 counties remained unchanged (0.3%).
Counties with a population of less than 10,000 saw more losses (60.8%) than gains (38.3%), while counties with a population of 100,000 or more did the opposite, rising 68%.
Maricopa County is the fourth largest county in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2022, the tiers are as follows:
- Los Angeles County, California: 9,721,138
- Cook County, Illinois: 5,109,292
- Harris County, Texas: 4,780,913
- Maricopa County, Arizona: 4,551,524
- San Diego County, California: 3,276,208
- Orange County, Arizona: 3,151,184
- Miami-Dade County, Florida: 2,673,837
- Dallas County, Texas: 2,600,840
- Kings County, New York: 2,590,516
- Riverside County, California: 2,473,902
Pima County is the second largest county in Arizona.
Here are the population estimates for other Arizona counties:
- Pima: 1,057,597
- Pinal: 464,154
- Yavapai: 246,191
- Mojave: 220,816
- Yuma: 207,842
- Coconino: 144,060
- Cochise: 125,663
- Navajo: 108,650
- Apache: 65,432
- Zira: 53,922
- Santa Cruz: 48,759
- Graham: 38,779
- La Paz: 16,506
- Greenlee: 9,302
Arizona, Texas and Florida lead county growth
Surprise surprise, Maricopa County regained its status as the nation’s largest county by adding 56,831 residents in 2022. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, internal migration is the main driver of population growth.
Six of the ten counties with the highest annual numerical growth are in Lone Star State. these are:
- Harris County: 45,626
- Collin County: 44,246
- Denton County: 33,424
- Fort Bend County: 29,022
- Bexar County: 28,635
- Montgomery County: 28,229
Fifth, sixth and eighth were Florida counties.
- Polk County: 32,225
- Lee County: 31,777
- Hillsborough County: 28,846
Los Angeles County has lost the most people
In 2022, Los Angeles County, California will record the largest population decline, with about 90,704 people moving. As pointed out by the Associated PressHowever, the ‘bright spot’ to this is that internal migration losses are down 20% from the previous year.
Other counties that have seen significant declines are:
- Cook County, Illinois: 68,314
- Queens County, New York: 50,112
- Kings County, New York: 46,970
- Bronx County, New York: 41,143
- Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: 22,222
- Wayne County, Michigan: 16,030
- Santa Clara County, California: 15,650
- Alameda County, California: 14,840
- Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: 12,192
Three Arizona counties lost more people than they gained in 2022
According to census data, 33,305 people relocated to Maricopa County nationwide.
All Arizona counties have increased their populations due to immigration, except for three counties: Graham (-170), Greenlee (-123), and Yuma (-335).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 60% of U.S. counties will have net domestic migration in 2022. This number is down slightly from 63.3% in 2021.
Seven states reportedly showed 75% of counties experiencing negative net internal migration.
Over 15,000 people internationally immigrated to Maricopa County
Maricopa County not only had the highest number of domestic immigrants, but also the highest number of international immigrants at 15,288.
Pima County had the second highest number of international immigrants with 3,148 in 2022.
Overall, the U.S. Census Bureau said the pattern across the country will remain roughly the same in 2022 as it did in 2021. Approximately 78% (2,462) of counties had net international migration.
Maricopa County had more births than deaths, but Arizona as a whole did not.
Maricopa County recorded 50,726 births and 42,920 deaths.
Apache, Cochise, Gila, La Paz, Mojave, Navajo, Pima, and Yavapai counties have had more deaths than registered births in the 2022 Census.
In 2022, about 74% (2,336) of the counties had more deaths than births. This number is a slight improvement from the 2021 total of 2,368.
For more information on 2022 Census data, visit the U.S. Census Bureau website. census.gov.
