2007 population estimates put Blount in Tennessee’s top 10

By Rick Laney
of The Daily Times Staff

Blount County is the 10th most populated county in Tennessee, according to 2007 population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week.

With an estimated 119,855 residents, Blount County grew by 1,921 people from the 2006 Census estimate of 117,934 residents — an increase of 1.6 percent. Blount was also 10th out of the state’s 95 counties according to the 2006 population estimates.
Shelby County, which actually experienced a slight drop in population between 2006 and 2007, was at the top of the state list again this year with 910,100 residents. Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Rutherford, Williamson, Montgomery, Sullivan and Sumner counties occupied the second through ninth spots respectively.

Knox County, which ranked third in the state, grew 1.8 percent to an estimated 423,874 residents. Rutherford County had the state’s highest growth rate at 4.5 percent, followed by Montgomery and Williamson counties with growth rates of 4.4 percent.

John Lamb, the director of planning for Blount County for the past 13 years, told The Daily Times Thursday that there really were no surprises in the new Census Bureau population estimates.

“It’s the same trend we’ve seen in the past, and these numbers are consistent with what we projected in 2000,” Lamb said. “We did a high projection and a low projection out to the year 2020 for Blount County. These numbers are right between our high and low projections.

“The Hunter Growth Study also had high and low projections — using some additional data — out to the year 2030. These numbers are right between the high and low projections from Hunter, too.

“We have projected that Blount County would grow by approximately 2,000 residents per year. We grew by 1,921 according to the U.S. Census Bureau — that’s pretty close.”

Overall, Tennessee’s population increased from 6,074,913 in 2006 to 6,156,719 — a 1.3 percent jump. Tennessee ranks 17th in the nation for population totals according to the new figures. California is the most populated state and Wyoming the least populated.

Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area in the nation between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to the new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta (151,063), Phoenix (132,513) and Houston (120,544) rounded out the metro areas with a gain of at least 100,000.

The Midwest metro area with the greatest numeric change was Chicago (seventh overall nationally), while the Northeast metro area with the greatest numeric change over the same period was New York (21st overall nationally).

Fast-growing South

Eight of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas between 2006 and 2007 were located in the South.

Four of these fast-growing Southern metro areas were not only among the top 10 in percent growth from 2006 to 2007 but also among the 20 largest numeric gainers during the same period. Raleigh, N.C., was the third fastest-growing metro area, 4.7 percent, as well as the 12th largest numeric gainer, at 47,052. Austin, Texas, was the fifth fastest-growing metro area, 4.3 percent, as well as the eighth largest numeric gainer, at 65,880. Charlotte, N.C., was the seventh fastest-growing metro area, 4.2 percent, as well as the sixth largest numeric gainer, at 66,724.

The fourth metro area in the South, New Orleans, was the eighth fastest growing metro area between July 2006 and July 2007, as its population climbed 4 percent. It also was the 16th largest numeric gainer over the same period, with an increase of 39,885. The New Orleans metro area previously had the highest rate of decline between July 2005 and July 2006.

Gulf Coast gains

In addition to New Orleans, other Gulf Coast metro areas where populations increased between 2006 and 2007 after having experienced 2005-2006 population declines included Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., (1.8 percent population growth); Pascagoula, Miss., (1.6 percent); Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, (0.5 percent); and Lake Charles, La., (0.4 percent).

The 50 fastest-growing metro areas were concentrated in two regions — 27 in the South and 20 in the West. One metro area, Fayetteville, Ark.-Mo., straddled both the South and Midwest regions. Sioux Falls, S.D., and Springfield, Mo., were the two metro areas among the 50 fastest-growing located completely in the Midwest. None of the 50 was in the Northeast. The Northeast Region’s fastest-growing metro area was York, Pa., which ranked 107th.

New York was the most populous metro area with 18.8 million people, followed by Los Angeles (12.9 million) and Chicago (9.5 million). Nine metro areas had 2007 populations of 5 million or more.

More than four-fifths of all U.S. metro areas (303 out of 363) had population increases between 2006 and 2007. The 50 fastest-growing metro areas grew by at least 2.3 percent during this period, which is more than double the nation’s total population gain of 1 percent. As of July 1, 2007, the 363 metro areas in the United States contained 251.9 million people — 83.5 percent of the nation’s population.