CBS2 reports the U.S. Census Bureau recently released city population estimates for 2020. The state’s urban areas continue to see significant population growth.
The Gem State had the fastest growing population in the nation — up 2.1% — between 2019 and 2020. Much of that growth occurred in Idaho’s urban areas.
Nationwide, there are 3,093 cities with populations larger than 10,000. When those cities are ranked based on their percentage growth between 2019 and 2020, eight of the top 200 fastest-growing cities are in Idaho — Kuna (43), Post Falls (46), Star (55), Eagle (65), Meridian (70), Nampa (151) Ammon (167) and Caldwell (171) — all with growth rates ranging from 7.5% to 3.5%.
Here are some of the other findings:
- About 70.5% of Idaho’s residents lived in cities in 2020 compared to 61.2% in 1980.
- Nampa passed a milestone in 2020 when its population rose from 99,502 to 103,215, joining Boise and Meridian in the 100,000-up club.
- Among the Idaho cities and its six neighboring states, Boise is the seventh largest with 229,776 residents. The largest is Seattle (769,714), followed by Portland (656,751), Las Vegas (662,368), Henderson (329,172), Reno (259,290) and North Las Vegas (259,290). Rounding out the top 10 are Spokane (222,050), Tacoma (219,945) and Salt Lake City (204,087).
Results from the 2020 Decennial Census will be released in September.
