America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers

Movin’ Out: More Growth on Outer Edges of Major Cities

Since 2020, city centers of many major U.S. metro areas have had sluggish population gains, with some places even declining. But where growth did occur, it was mostly on the outer edges of these metro areas — with some exceptions.

The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates for cities and towns released this week allow us to explore where population losses and gains happened within metro areas.

We selected a major metro area in each of the four regions — South, Northeast, Midwest and West — and analyzed how the populations have shifted during the first half of this decade.