New local Census population estimates for 2017 are out!
The suburbanization of America continues. Lower-density suburbs of large metros grew fastest. Rural areas lag. 
Urban counties lose a lot of people to other places, but gain from international migration.
Non-metro counties have struggled -- except those where education levels are higher. Rural areas with more education are growing at the national rate.
Growth is slowing in dense urban counties, after the urban population rebound earlier this decade. High housing costs push or keep people out.
Mid-size metro growth caught up to the largest metros in 2017 -- after many years of large metros leading. Shift toward smaller, more affordable places.
Speaking of metros, time for some lists!
The fastest growing metros are all in the South and West, though none in California.
Domestic migration drives most of the differences in local population growth. Florida metros get lots of migrants from elsewhere in the US (though not Miami).
International migration, though, boosts big coastal metros -- including expensive ones that lose people to domestic migration.
Natural increase (births minus deaths) adds people in young metros, especially in Utah and Texas.
Two metros stand out for gaining people from both domestic and international migration: Orlando and Seattle.
The biggest population loss was in Youngstown OH. Half of these population-losing metros are in Ohio and upstate New York. (Rochester ever so slightly negative but rounds to 0.0%.)
Time for some context: today's population shifts look increasingly like the past, as the effects of the 2000s housing boom and bust recede.
For the most part, population growth today is in metros that grew in the late 20th century, before the housing boom & bust.
(Correlation = 0.78) No great examples of big rebounds among larger metros.
(Correlation = 0.78) No great examples of big rebounds among larger metros.
As we get further from the housing boom & bust, local population growth patterns are reverting back to pre-2000 patterns.
Since 2001, the fastest-growing metro has consistently been in the Sunbelt (or on the edge).
Youngstown OH has had the biggest rate of population loss for the last eight years, including 2017.
