Wrendog, Remember when we were wondering which metro area was larger of Grand Junction and St. George? Looks like St. George will claim that spot this year some time if it hasn't already.
St. George No. 1 in U.S.; 2 Utah County cities 6th
Provo area is growing rapidly
By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News
Washington County, anchored by St. George, continues to be the nation's fastest growing metro area with a 2006 population of 126,312 and a six-year growth rate of 40 percent, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
The housing rising in Eagle Mountain has helped make the new community one of the growth hot spots in Utah County. St. George Mayor Dan McArthur said in the days before air conditioning became commonplace, the southwestern Utah community "was not desirable."
"Brigham Young had to call people to settle it," he said. "After the first year, of the 309 families, only about half of them were still there."
Now, he said, "it is very desirable," with clean air, a warm climate and relatively low elevation. That's reflected in strong growth since the mid-1990s.
Also showing strong growth was the Provo-Orem metro area, which ranked sixth nationally in growth from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2006. Provo-Orem, which encompasses Utah and Juab counties, grew by 26 percent, or 97,402 people, to 474,180.
In Utah County, the hot spots are largely new communities in the northwest, such as Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs, along with established communities such as Lehi and American Fork. Meanwhile, those seeking to escape the county's urbanization are also starting to move south to Juab County, said Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson.
"New areas are developing that a decade ago were just beginning or had not begun," he said. "Now they're cities of 15,000 to 20,000."
The Census Bureau looks at metro areas as distinct from counties. Metropolitan statistical areas have an urban core of at least 50,000 people and adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core. Micropolitan statistical areas are similar but with urban cores of 10,000 to 50,000.
When compared with other metro areas, such as the Salt Lake or Provo-Orem metro areas, Washington County's growth rate is No. 1 in the nation. But, although Washington County's metro area lies within the county borders, when the county is compared with other counties of more than 10,000 people, it ranked only 19th in growth nationally from 2000 to 2006. And its one-year growth rate was actually surpassed by Wasatch County.
By contrast, when Washington County is compared to other metro areas around the nation, it ranks No. 1 in growth since 2000.
"St. George is consistently one of the fastest growing areas in the nation," said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. "The St. George area has had very strong growth for the entire decade of the 2000s."
The data show that St. George's growth has been largely due to people moving in, said Pam Perlich, senior research economist at the University of Utah. Provo-Orem, in contrast, saw most of its growth through births. So did Salt Lake, where there was a net influx of immigrants but a net domestic outmigration.
"In Washington County there's an over-representing of older age," she said. "In Utah County, there's a over-representing of college age."
She added that some of Utah's fast-growing areas may be seeing more growth than the census numbers indicate, particularly in Provo-Orem and Logan, where the census tends to underestimate the large concentrations of college students.
Despite its fast-paced growth, St. George remains relatively small for a metropolitan area, and its numerical gain of 35,958 is 91st.
And that's just fine, said McArthur, who remembers going to high school in a small town of maybe 6,000.
"We're not seeking to be the fastest-growing community in the nation," he said. "We just want to make sure we take care of the people in St. George."
Deseret Morning News Graphic
As of July 1, 2006, the 361 metro areas in the United States contained 249.2 million people — 83.2 percent of the nation's population.
In percentage growth, St. George was followed by Greeley, Colo., which grew by 31 percent to 236,857; Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Calif., which grew by 30 percent to 571,344; Bend, Ore., which saw 29 percent growth to 149,140; and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., which grew by 29 percent to 1.8 million.
New York was the most populous metro area on July 1, 2006, with 18.8 million people, followed by Los Angeles, with 13 million, and Chicago with 9.5 million.
The Atlanta metro area gained 890,000 residents — the nation's largest numerical gain — bringing it to a 2006 population of 5.1 million.
The outflux following Hurricane Katrina was reflected in the New Orleans metro area experiencing the greatest numeric loss over six years, declining by 292,000 people to 1 million on July 1, 2006. New Orleans also saw the biggest percentage loss of 22.2 percent, followed by coastal Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., which was also hard-hit by Katrina and lost 7.4 percent of its population.
Utah's biggest metro area, Salt Lake, which includes Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties, saw the state's greatest population gain — 98,839 or 10 percent — bringing its total population to nearly 1.1 million.
The Ogden-Clearfield metro area, which includes Davis, Morgan and Weber counties, grew by 12.4 percent to 497,640. The state's smallest metro area, Logan — which includes Cache County and Franklin County, Idaho — grew by 8 percent to 111,156.
Most of Utah's micropolitan areas have also grown since 2000. With a six-year growth of 33 percent, Heber (Wasatch County) is the nation's third fastest growing micro area. And Cedar City (Iron County) grew by 20 percent to 40,544, ranking 9th nationally. Brigham City (Box Elder County) grew by 10 percent to 47,197 and Vernal (Uintah County) grew nearly 11 percent to 27,955.
Utah's only micro area that lost population was Price (Carbon County), which has lost nearly 1,000 people since 2000, making its 2006 population 27,955.