Census: Riverside County third in total residents added since 2000

New Census figures released this week show Riverside County ranked third in the nation in total residents added (481,000) since the 2000 Census while neighboring San Bernardino County ranked sixth (290,000).

Together, the two-county Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA added 771,000 residents between 2000 and 2006, putting the region on track to add over 1 million new residents between 2000 and 2010 (and 1.6+ million since 1990).

The additional residents boosts Inland Southern California’s overall population to 4.02 million, which ranks 14th (updated 04/07/07) in the nation (between the Phoenix and Seattle metropolitan regions).

The 481,000 residents added to Riverside County was behind only Maricopa County (Phoenix; 696,000) and Harris County (Houston; 486,000). Los Angeles County (429,000) and Clark County (Las Vegas; 402,000) complete the top 5. Tarrant Co., TX (225,000), Collin Co., TX (208,000), Gwinnett Co., GA (169,000), and Will Co., IL (166,000) round out the top 10 in numerical increase. (Source: Census – cb07-42tbl1.xls)

Riverside County’s growth rate of 31.2% since 2000 ranked 45th in the nation. Only one other county in excess of 1 million residents ranked in the top 100 in percentage growth since 2000 (Clark County, Nev., ranked 63rd). (Source: Census – cb07-42tbl3.xls)

The recent figures reaffirm Inland Southern California’s continuing rise in nationwide population rankings. Riverside County now ranks as the nation’s 11th most-populous county — just behind Queens County (NYC) — while San Bernardino now ranks 12th.

With the rise of Riverside and San Bernardino, Southern California is now home to 5 of the nation’s 15 most-populous counties (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino).

Finally, with projected growth taken into account, there’s the distinct possibility Inland Southern California may crack the top 10 in total metropolitan population within the next 10-15 years. Just 27 years ago, the two-county region — with a population of 1.56 million — ranked as the nation’s 27th most-populous Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The tremendous growth — particularly over the past 6 years — again brings up the question of how much longer until this seemingly hidden, “sleeping giant” awakens?

Update

• U.S. Census Bureau – Metropolitan Rankings

Related

• U.S. Census Bureau
• U.S. Census Bureau – Arizona’s Maricopa Leads Counties in Population Growth Since Census 2000

Previous

• RaincrossSquare.com – 4 million and counting (Dec. 2006)
• RaincrossSquare.com – Inland growth driving SoCal region (Dec. 2006)
• RaincrossSquare.com – ‘A Sleeping Giant’ – part deux (Feb. 2006)

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau