As the United States Census Bureau continues to build out and share the full dataset from the 2020 Census, Regional Plan Association (RPA) crunched some preliminary numbers. The biggest takeaway so far? New York City and the surrounding region grew considerably more than the Census has been estimating in recent years.
RPA 31-County Area Population
23,544,043
(+6.0% from 2010)
New York City Population
8,804,190
(+7.7% from 2010)
Census data had been showing a decline over the last five years, essentially eliminating any gains over the first half of the decade. This turns out not to be the case. These new numbers could explain why the job market in New York City continued to boom while the population was supposedly shrinking.
Fastest growing counties in the region:
- Hudson County, NJ (14%)
- Ocean County, NJ (10.5%)
- Essex County, NJ (10.2%)
- Kings County, NY (9.2%)
- Rockland County, NY (8.5%)
Slowest-growing counties in the region:
- Sussex County, NJ (-3.4%)
- Litchfield County, CT (-2.5%)
- Putnam County, NY (-2.0%)
- Dutchess County, NY (-0.5%)
- Ulster County, NY (-0.4%)
Regional Plan Association will offer more Census data-related insights in the coming weeks focused on local patterns of population change, shifts in racial demographics, and more.
Population Growth by Subregion
Here you can download the full table comparing county, subregion, and regional population growth in the last ten years with the original projections from the Census.
