The overwhelming majority of Maryland’s population growth continues to occur in the four older suburban jurisdictions of Montgomery, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, according to recently released population estimates for July 1, 2013 from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.[1]
The latest Census Bureau’s population estimates indicate that the effects of the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, and the collapse of the overheated housing market of the mid 2000s, are still being played out in the third year of the current decade. Loss of jobs, followed by an anemic recovery, along with a housing market saddled with foreclosures and stricter mortgage loan standards, combined to greatly impact the ability of residents to move from current locations. This reduced mobility had the greatest negative impact on rural/exurban counties in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore which in the past grew mostly from the migration of residents from other parts of Maryland. The greatest positive impact was on the inner suburban counties, greatly reducing net out migration from the high levels experienced in the mid-2000s.
State-level estimates released in December 2013 showed that Maryland’s population grew by just under 44,000 people between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013, ranked 14th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
For most of the 2000s, the Southern Maryland Region led the State in the rate of population growth, but in the last year (and since April 1, 2010) this Region has fallen just below the Washington Suburban Region.
Baltimore City’s estimated population loss of 313 (-0.1%) from July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013 was a marked turnaround from the 1,430 (0.2%) gain in the prior year, which was one of the few years in which the Census Bureau’s estimates program did not show a population loss. However, one positive note from the Census Bureau’s latest population release were the revisions to prior year’s estimates. For instance, the gain in 2011/2012 was originally reported as 1,126, some 300 less than the latest estimate for that year, and the total gain over the April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012 period was revised upward to just over 1,300 from the originally reported 381. Most of the increase in the revised population estimates comes from larger gains to net natural change (births minus deaths) than what was originally reported.
For more information on the state and national estimates, see Maryland Estimates for 2013 on the State Data Center’s webpage.
[1] Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, release date March 27, 2014
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