Fewer people than Omaha, but more than Miami.
That's one of the more eye-catching takeaways from Raleigh's position in new U.S. Census Bureau figures.
With a population of 403,892, Raleigh ranks as the nation’s 43rd-most populous city, the Census found. The latest round of information comes to us courtesy of the city's public affairs staff.
The ranking can be attributed to two big factors: Raleigh is growing while other cities are shrinking or growing at slower paces, says Mitchell Silver, the city's planning director.
Also, city populations can be misleading. While Raleigh technically has a larger population than Miami, the two cities are nowhere close in terms of metro areas.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area boasts 5.5 million people, good for No. 8 in the country in this category. Raleigh-Cary comes in at 1.1 million, or No. 48 on the list, just behind Buffalo-Niagara Falls and ahead of Birmingham-Hoover.
By the way, Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill appears at No. 33 with 1.7 million people.
Raleigh’s population jumped more than 46.2 percent since the last U.S. Census.
The 2000 population figure was 276,093. The Capital City’s population has more than doubled since 1988 when 201,111 persons called Raleigh home.
The 40 to 50 largest U.S. cities and their populations are as follows:
40. Atlanta, Ga. 420,003
41. Colorado Springs, Colo. 416,427
42. Omaha, Neb. 408,958
43. Raleigh 403,892
44. Miami, Fla. 399,457
45. Cleveland, Ohio 396,815
46. Tulsa, Oka. 391,906
47. Oakland, Calif. 390,724
48. Minneapolis, Minn. 382,578
49. Wichita, Kan. 382,368
50. San Juan, P.R. 381,931
