NYC immigrants put 'pop' in population

By ANDY SOLTIS

Last Updated: 7:04 AM, March 24, 2010

Posted: 2:31 AM, March 24, 2010
Comments: 4
| More Print

New York state is still growing, thanks to a surge of immigrants to the five boroughs, new census estimates show.

The state's population rose by 564,642 to 19.5 million between 2000, when the last census was taken, and last July when the latest data was compiled.

More than two-thirds of that increase -- about 384,000 -- occurred in the city, while rural and rust-belt counties upstate lost more than 8 percent of their population.

Brooklyn rose by 102,000, Manhattan by 92,000, Queens by 77,000, The Bronx by 65,000 and Staten Island by 48,000.

Brooklyn, with 2,567,098 people, lengthened its lead over the second-most populous borough, Queens, which had 2,306,712.

Each of the boroughs experienced an increase between July 2008 and July 2009, except Manhattan which shrunk by more than 2,500 people.

The estimate released yesterday, based on birth and death records and migration patterns, are the last before the 2010 census, which will determine such matters as shifts in legislative districts.

Upstate New York is expected to lose at least one seat in Congress.

After decades of population spurts, the suburbs grew relatively modestly since 2000. Westchester rose by 32,000, Nassau by 19,000, Rockland by 14,000 and Putnam by 4,000. But Suffolk shot up by 99,000 and has vaulted to the 22nd largest county in the country, with 1,513,435 people.

The new data shows that 1.7 million people left the state between 2000 and July 2009 but that was more than overcome by an influx of new immigrants and births.

The national picture showed a slowdown in once-popular retirement destinations widely found in the South and West.

For the first time in decades, more people moved out of Las Vegas than moved in, due to foreclosures and a depressed tourism industry, while Orlando, Fla., had more people move out for a second straight year.

The New Orleans area grew 1.8 percent last year to nearly 1.2 million, just short of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level of 1.3 million.

The fastest-growing metro area last year was Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Ga., home to several Army brigades. Its population jumped 5.9 percent to 74,420 people.

andy.soltis@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nyc_ ... z0jA1BdR90