State adds 40,157 residents since 2010
BY CURTIS KILLMAN World Staff Writer
Thursday, December 22, 2011
12/22/11 at 7:45 AM
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Related story: Growth slowing in large portions of U.S.
Oklahoma added 40,157 new residents between April 2010 and July 2011 and now has a population of 3,791,508, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 1.07 percent increase in population ranks Oklahoma 17th in population growth rate among the states, just ahead of Hawaii and just behind Idaho.
Oklahoma is still the 28th most populous state in the nation, losing some ground to 27th ranked Oregon, which grew by 40,785 residents during the same time period.
Texas, which grew by 2.1 percent or 529,120 residents during the 15-month period, had the most growth among all the states.
After Texas, the top five states in terms of growth rates were: Utah, 1.9 percent; Alaska, 1.8 percent; and Colorado and North Dakota, both 1.7 percent.
The United States as a whole saw its population increase by 2.8 million over the 15-month period, to 311.6 million. Its growth of 0.92 percent between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, was the lowest since the mid-1940s.
"These are the first set of Census Bureau population estimates to be published since the official 2010 Census state population counts were released a year ago," Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said in a statement. "Our nation is constantly changing and these estimates provide us with our first measure of how much each state has grown or declined in total population since Census Day 2010."
About 38 percent of Oklahoma's population increase came from new residents moving to the state from other states or from outside the United States. The balance of the increase came from births within the state.
Among the 15,405 people to migrate to the state, 8,933 were estimated to be from other states and the balance to be from international locales. In all, about 16 percent of the new residents in Oklahoma came from international migration. International migrants include both native and foreign-born populations and can include net movement of armed forces population between the United States and overseas.
Census Bureau figures also point to a slowing in the number of migrants moving to Oklahoma compared to the prior year.
Domestic migration to the state, while still in positive territory, declined 61 percent compared to the previous year, while international migration declined 8 percent during the same time period.
By the numbers
Census Bureau figures released Wednesday show the top 20 states for population growth rates between the 2010 Census and July 2011:
1. Texas 2.1%
2. Utah 1.9%
3. Alaska 1.8%
4. Colorado 1.7%
5. North Dakota 1.7%
6. Washington 1.6%
7. Arizona 1.4%
8. Florida 1.4%
9. Georgia 1.3%
10. North Carolina 1.3%
11. South Dakota 1.2%
12. Virginia 1.2%
13. California 1.2%
14. South Carolina 1.2%
15. New Mexico 1.1%
16. Idaho 1.1%
17. Oklahoma 1.1%
18. Hawaii 1.1%
19. Oregon 1.1%
20. Delaware 1.0%
Curtis Killman 918-581-8471
curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com
