U.S. Census Bureau says metro Detroit grew in 2015

City Lab recently summarized the data on population estimates for 2015 released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Buried among the larger population patterns was an interesting note about metro Detroit.

First the good news: our metro area is growing. The bad: it's at the 14th slowest rate in the country -- an anemic 0.01 percent. That's not too surprising, given general national trends of population movement to the south and west, and our still recovering housing market and economy. 

But at least it's positive. As recently as 2008 and 2009, metro Detroit experienced the largest population losses in the country. The "winner" of this dubious distinction for the past six years running is the Youngstown, Ohio metro region. 

Other statistics of note from the report:

• "Population is growing faster in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest, and faster in suburban areas than in urban counties"
• "Six of the ten fastest growing metros in 2015 were in Florida and Texas, while none were in the Midwest or Northeast"
• Oil towns and metros, especially those in "micropolitan" regions like Williston and Dickinson, North Dakota, experienced some of the biggest increases

The metro area with the largest projected growth for 2015 was Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL at 3.3 percent.