The United States -- including Arkansas -- continues to condense into metropolitan areas and thin out elsewhere, according to data released today by U.S. Census Bureau.
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers region continues its fast growth. Since 2010, the region has grown by an estimated 85,924 people. That's more than the size of Fayetteville (about 81,889 people, per 2017 Census estimates).
Most of the 383 metropolitan areas grew. Only 84 did not, including Pine Bluff, which had the highest estimated percentage population decline since the 2010 Census. The Pine Bluff metropolitan area's population dropped from 100,258 people in 2010 to an estimated 89,515 in 2018, down 10.7 percent. The second-fastest estimated population decline was the Johnstown, Pa., metropolitan area, which had an 8.3 percent loss.
The numbers weren't as encouraging for the nation's 550 micropolitan areas, with 295 seeing a loss in population. The biggest decline once again went to an Arkansas town -- Helena-West Helena, which experienced a 17.1 percent decrease in residents, from 21,757 in 2010 to an estimated 18,029 in 2018. The second-worst drop took place across the Mississippi River in Clarksdale, Miss., where the population declined 13.5 percent, from 26,151 in 2010 to an estimated 22,628 in 2018.
Most U.S. counties shrunk, with 1,658 of the nation's 3,142 counties experiencing a loss in population from the 2010 Census to the 2018 population estimates. One Arkansas county, Benton, at 23.2 percent, showed up in the top 50 for population growth.
Nine Arkansas counties were in the nation's top 50 county population declines: Phillips, Monroe, Lee, Lafayette, Jefferson, Chicot, Dallas, Desha and Mississippi.
The trends are consistent with the job growth seen in the state, said Mervin Jebaraj, director of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Center for Business and Economic Research. The Northwest Arkansas and the Jonesboro areas show the fastest job growth and the fastest population growth in the state at 18.5 percent and 9.5 percent since 2010, respectively.
Metro on 04/18/2019