Jacksonville growth No. 7 nationally, Census estimates say

Jacksonville had the country’s seventh largest population growth last year, and the largest in Florida, new estimates of city population changes from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The estimates say the city gained 12,153 people between July 2017 and last July, raising Jacksonville’s total population to 903,889.

Miami, estimated to have gained 8,884 people within its city limits, had the next largest increase in Florida, growing to an estimated 470,914 people.

Jacksonville’s growth was actually slower than in 2016, when Census staff estimated the population had increased by 14,660, but it continued a cycle of growth that has covered the decade.

The city’s population has increased just under 10 percent since 2010, when the number of people in town was estimated at 823,123.

Jacksonville’s growth last year lagged behind Charlotte, N.C., whose 13,151-person increase made it the one city in the Southeast estimated to have a higher total population increase for 2018.

The largest single-year growth was in Phoenix, which Census staffers estimated gained 25,288 people. Following on the list ahead of Jacksonville were San Antonio; Fort Worth, Texas; Seattle; Charlotte; and Austin, Texas.

Steve Patterson: (904) 359-4263