Population
Not surprisingly, the District’s four most populous metropolitan areas also include the District’s four most populous cities. Interestingly, while the Columbus MSA is the third most populous metropolitan area in the District, Columbus itself is the District’s most populous city, with over three-quarters of a million people. The only large cities that grew much in the last decade were Columbus and Lexington. They were the only cities in the District with more than 100,000 people to show significant population growth from 2000 to 2010.
Fourth District Population by City (thousands)
| City |
2000
|
2010
|
2000-2010 percent change |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus |
715.9
|
787.0
|
9.9
|
|
| Cleveland |
476.5
|
396.8
|
−16.7
|
|
| Pittsburgh |
333.7
|
305.7
|
−8.3
|
|
| Cincinnati |
331.2
|
296.9
|
−10.3
|
|
| Toledo |
313.6
|
287.2
|
−8.4
|
|
| Lexington-Fayette |
261.1
|
295.8
|
13.2
|
|
| Akron |
216.8
|
199.1
|
−8.1
|
|
| Dayton |
165.8
|
141.5
|
−14.6
|
|
| Erie |
103.6
|
101.7
|
−1.8
|
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
In recent decades, the District’s population has grown at a significantly slower pace than nation’s. Since 1970 the District’s population has seen a slight increase of just over 6 percent. By contrast, throughout the same period, U.S. population has grown by about 52 percent.
Average annual increases in population since 1970 have also been consistently higher for the United States than for the District. Annual population growth has averaged about 1.1 percent for the United States over this period, whereas annual increases in the District have averaged 0.1 percent.
