Seattle Grew Fastest Among the 50 Largest U.S. Cities in 2022
The Seattle Times reported that Seattle gained about 17,750 residents between July 2021 and July 2022, a 2.4% increase and the fastest growth rate among the 50 largest U.S. cities.
In May 2023, The Seattle Times reported that new U.S. Census Bureau estimates had put Seattle back on top as the fastest-growing of the 50 largest U.S. cities. From July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022, the city gained about 17,750 people, reaching a population of 749,000. Columnist Gene Balk wrote that the 2.4% growth rate was similar to Seattle’s pace during the 2010s.
The gain followed a pandemic decline. The Census Bureau had revised Seattle’s loss from 2020 to 2021 to about 9,000 people, more than double its earlier estimate of about 4,300.
Seattle was the only city outside the Sun Belt near the top of the list. Fort Worth, Texas, ranked second at 2%, and the 15 fastest-growing big cities after Seattle were all in the South and Southwest. By raw numbers, Seattle ranked fourth, behind Fort Worth, Phoenix and San Antonio. Twenty-one of the 50 largest cities lost population, including Portland, down about 8,000 people, and New York, down about 123,000.
The column also found that King County outside Seattle lost about 4,000 residents that year. The county as a whole grew by about 13,750, fewer than the city alone added. Balk wrote that he believed this was the first time Seattle grew while the rest of the county shrank. Most of the losses were in South King County cities such as Federal Way, Renton and Kent, while Bellevue grew 2.0% and Shoreline 2.8%.
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This is our summary. The full article by Gene Balk appeared in The Seattle Times on May 18, 2023.
Read the full article at The Seattle Times
