We're now the 72nd largest city in the U.S., bigger even than Fort Wayne, Ind., according to 2008 Census estimates released today.
MARK ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:00 am
A quarter-million people - that's finally the official answer to questions about Lincoln's size.
We're now the 72nd largest city in the U.S., bigger even than Fort Wayne, Ind., according to 2008 Census estimates released Wednesday.
Need more to brag about? The Lincoln area is the 155th largest U.S. metropolitan area, up from 160th in 2000.
Technically, Lincoln had 251,624 people in 2008.
Omaha, for its part, overtook Cleveland, at least among cities proper. But with an estimated 438,646 residents in 2008, Omaha has nowhere near Cleveland's metro population.
David Drozd of the Center for Public Affairs Research called 2008 a good year for growth, "the strongest growth in a dozen years," at least for large Nebraska cities. Lincoln added 3,456 people during the year. Omaha added 5,855 people.
The years since 2000 have been less kind to the state's smaller cities and towns.
Roughly 80 percent of Nebraska places have lost ground since 2000. Nearly 40 percent of state cities have lost at least 10 percent of their size, he said.
Alliance is down 850 people since 2000. Falls City, Norfolk, McCook, Fairbury and Ogallala have each lost more than 500 people in that time. Ogallala lost the most in 2008, down 104, followed by Beatrice, down 65.
Most Nebraska growth remains homegrown, with births exceeding deaths, Drozd said.
But about a third of Lancaster County's growth last year can be traced to immigration patterns, probably reflecting the decline of economic opportunities elsewhere - fewer Nebraskans leaving for Arizona and Florida, and an atypical net gain in people moving here from Michigan and Pennsylvania.
From that standpoint, Drozd predicted, 2009 will show similarly good growth, with Lincoln and Omaha the primary beneficiaries.
Gretna, with its 179 percent growth since 2000, remains the state's hottest city, although its addition of 255 people last year was less than half its gains from the heydays of 2004.
Gretna's one-year growth rate of 4 percent for 2008 was eclipsed by four Lancaster County communities: Hickman added 104 people or 6.8 percent; Raymond added 13 people or 6.2 percent; Waverly added 173 people or 5.7 percent; and Malcolm added 22 people or 4.8 percent.
Since 2000, Hickman has the state's fourth fastest growth rate, 46.4 percent. Waverly ranks seventh at 30.7 percent; Bennet ranks eighth at 28.4 percent; Firth ranks ninth at 22.5 percent.
Drozd cautioned the annual Census estimates tend to undercount Latinos and minorities. A more thorough count will occur next year with Census 2010, the official count used in distributing many federal dollars and in creating voting districts.
Drozd suggested Lincoln's quarter-million milestone might gain it additional attention from developers. For companies looking to locate in cities of 250,000 or larger, he said, Lincoln now falls on their list.
Bellevue has been annexing aggressively to reach the 50,000 mark, he noted.
Jason Smith of the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development said most location evaluations tend to consider metropolitan area, which for Lincoln includes all of Lancaster and Seward counties, which together are approaching 300,000.
"Continued growth is a positive when people are looking at you," Smith said, and 250,000 people was an important breakthrough.
Hopefully, he added, we'll soon break 300,000.
Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or mandersen@journalstar.com.