Urban Mid-Atlantic: The Growing Metropoltan Areas of the Mid-Atlantic

The Mid-Atlantic from Space
From upper L to R: Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
(Richmond and Hampton Roads in VA are also partially visible at the far left and lower left parts of the photo respectively)
Image Courtesy of NASA Johnson Space Center

The Northeast is one of the most populous and most densely populated regions in the United States. This past spring, the Census Bureau released its 2012 population estimates for the nation's metropolitan areas. The estimated population for the largest combined metropolitan areas (CSA's*) in the Northeast was 50,475,854, or approximately 16% of the U.S. population. The Mid-Atlantic accounts for a significant portion of that total, with a population of 39,823,114 in its three major combined metro areas (New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore-Washington D.C.). A table with the 2012 populations of the largest individual metro areas (MSAs) in the region is posted after the break:

Regional Rank	National Rank	Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)	2012 Population	2010 Populaton	% change
1	1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	19,831,858	19,567,410	1.35%
2	6	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	6,018,800	5,965,343	0.90%
3	7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	5,860,342	5,636,232	3.98%
4	20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	2,753,149	2,710,489	1.57%
5	22	Pittsburgh, PA	2,360,733	2,356,285	0.19%
6	49	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	1,134,210	1,135,509	-0.11%
7	51	Rochester, NY	1,082,284	1,079,671	0.24%
8	61	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	874,646	870,716	0.45%
9	68	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	827,171	821,173	0.73%
10	80	Syracuse, NY	660,934	662,577	-0.25%

Total

41,404,127

40,805,405

1.46%

*Combined Metropolitan Areas (officially Combined Statistical Areas, CSAs) are larger than the standard Metropolitan Areas (officially Metropolitan Statistical Areas, MSAs) defined by the OMB since they combine many smaller metro and micropolitan areas into one. For instance, the Baltimore-Washington CSA consists of the Baltimore MSA and Washington D.C. MSA as well as smaller adjoining areas, such as the Lexington Park, MD Metro Area and Hagerstown, MD Metro Areas.

As shown by the table, the DC region is currently the fastest growing metropolitan area in the region by far. In 2012 Washington D.C. (pop. 632,323) also surpassed Baltimore (pop. 621,342) as the largest city, by population, in the combined Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. At the same time though, Baltimore saw its population increase ( by 0.1%) for the first time since 1950, when the city's population peaked at nearly a million residents. Another jurisdiction in the area, Montgomery County, also reached an important milestone by topping 1 million residents for the first time ever, becoming only the second jurisdiction in the Balt-Wash Area (Fairfax County, VA being the other) to do so.

After Washington D.C., the next two fasting growing metro areas (MSAs) in the Mid-Atlantic are the Baltimore Metro Area and New York Metro Area. Out of the top 10 metro areas in the region, the only two to see population declines over the past two years were the Buffalo and Syracuse metro areas in upstate NY. Compared to other regions of the country, the 2-year population growth for the Mid-Atlantic was relatively modest. The 1.46% growth slightly outpaced the 1.4% growth rate average of all other metro areas in the country. However, only the 3 aforementioned fastest growing metro areas in the region outperformed the average.

The map below shows the growth rates for metropolitan areas in the rest of the United States. In general, metropolitan areas in the South, in addition to some metro areas in the West, appeared to have the strongest growth rates, while Midwestern metro areas had the weakest rates. The Northeast on a whole (including the Mid-Atlantic) showed average growth with moderate rates in coastal metro areas and poor growth rates in more upland areas.