Census: D.C. Gained 30,000 Residents in 2 Years

Gray: Population at highest levels since early 1980s.

New Census bureau estimates show the District of Columbia has gained more than 30,000 residents in the 27 months since the 2010 Census was conducted.
 
The bureau says the district's population now stands at 632,323, up from 601,723 in 2010.

Mayor Vincent Gray put out a statement welcoming the news - and pointing out that the population levels in the district have not been seen since the early 1980s.

"People are voting with their feet, and they want to live in D.C.," Gray said in a statement.

Gray's office said the census data showed the growth is attributed both to new births in the District and to people moving from other parts of the region, nation and world.

In just one part of the survey period - the 12 months that started in July 2011 - the District saw almost 10,000 new births. Another roughly 9,000 people moved into the District from other states and abroad - a year of growth that bucked the trend in many other parts of the country.

“We are absolutely thrilled,” said Harriet Tregoning, director of the District’s Office of Planning, which oversees the District’s State Data Center and Census activities. “We continue to focus on encouraging the best in land-use development and sustainability, and creating or maintaining convenient amenity-rich neighborhoods with great choices in housing and transportation. ... The District is a great place to live and I expect the population to continue to grow.”

Only one state grew faster than the district over that period: North Dakota, where the population increased by 2.17 percent. The district's population is up by 2.15 percent. The next-fasted-growing states were Texas, Wyoming and Utah.
 
The district now has more residents than two states: Wyoming and Vermont. Vermont had 24,000 more residents than the nation's capital in 2010 but has added fewer than 300 residents since.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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