New York City Now An Even Bigger Apple

U.S. Census estimates released yesterday show the city grew by more than 53,000 people during the one-year period ending in July 2008, raising the total population of all five boroughs to 8.36 million. While that's a slightly smaller increase than in 2007, it's still the most growth of any U.S. city in absolute numerical terms, edging out Phoenix, Houston, and Los Angeles. Staten Island appears to have fueled much of that growth—the population there shot up almost 1 percent—while the Bronx was the slowest growing borough at 0.5 percent. Where is this growth coming from? Well, fewer are coming but fewer are going, as immigration is down while emigration is slowing, according to chief demographer for NY Joseph Salvo. And having babies always helps, too—the city experienced the most births since 2001.