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Census: Georgia No. 5 in growth By Mary Lou Pickel Georgia's population increased by 2.2 percent, up to 9.5 million residents. "We are the fastest-growing state east of the Rocky Mountains. That confirms a trend that has been in place many years. It's deja vu," said Jeffrey Humphreys, a demographer with the University of Georgia's Selig Center. "It ratifies the fundamental strength that Georgia has as an economic engine," he said. "People come here for jobs and to get educated and to retire." About 94,000 people moved to Georgia from other states, and 31,000 came from abroad. The rest of the increase was due to births outnumbering deaths. In the Southeast, North Carolina ranked sixth nationally and South Carolina was 10th in the nation. The fastest-growing states continue to be in the Rocky Mountain region and the Southeast, as well as Texas. This year, Nevada returned to the top spot, increasing by a rate of 2.9 percent. Each year the Census Bureau makes state population estimates by measuring births and deaths as well as migration into and out of each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Louisiana appears to have rebounded after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, adding 50,000 people from July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007, according to the census data. That's a healthy increase compared with the population decrease of 176,000 over the five-year period from 2000 to 2007. While the birth rate remained greater than the death rate in Louisiana during those five years, about 335,000 people moved out of the state, census figures show. The Associated Press contributed to this article. |
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