Portland, a former boomtown, slipped into the bottom half of major cities for population growth last year.
But the city nonetheless leapfrogged Memphis, Tennessee, to become the nation’s 25th largest city. The population in that city is falling.
Portland grew by just under 4,500 residents between July 2017 and July 2018, according to new U.S. Census estimates. The increase, at just 0.7%, brings the city’s total population to 653,115.
The city now ranks No. 56 in growth out of the 100 largest U.S. cities, a 37-spot slide since 2016, when the population swelled by 1.8% and ranked No. 19 in growth.
The slowdown is no surprise. Oregon’s mid-decade economic boom has slowed and employers are hiring less than they had been. That’s reduced migration into the state.
Many of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. are in the South and West regions. Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas was the fastest growing major city, having added 3.6% more residents in 2018.
In the Pacific Northwest, Seattle continues to grow at a rapid rate. It added more than 15,000 residents last year, an increase of 2.1 percent. It’s the 18th largest city in the U.S.
Growth in that city is slowing, too, however. It saw 3.2 percent growth in 2016.
Portland has climbed four places in the list of biggest cities over the course of the decade. It was No. 29 in 2010, but it’s since passed Milwaukee, Baltimore, Memphis and Louisville, Kentucky. It has about 16,000 fewer people than Nashville, the next biggest city on the list.
-- Elliot Njus
enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus
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This post has been updated to reflect the following correction: The year the Portland’s population grew 1.8% and ranked No. 19 among the top 100 cities for growth was 2016. An earlier version of this story included an incorrect year.