New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are still America’s largest metropolitan areas, but none of the nation’s 366 metropolitan areas added more people during the past decade than Houston, according to the Kinder Institute for Urban Research study.

From a Rice University news release:

“Houston’s growth represents more people than the population growth in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined during the past decade,” said Michael Emerson, co-director of the Kinder Institute. “Houston’s growth alone accounts for more people than the nation’s 14 smallest metropolitan areas combined. It is more than the number of people who live in the Buffalo metropolitan area, and more than in the New Orleans metropolitan area — and it is more than the number of people in 322 of the nation’s 366 metropolitan areas.”

While 42 of the nation’s metropolitan areas actually lost population, Emerson said, Houston capitalized on its closeness to Latin America, its emergence as a major destination for immigrants from around the world, the area’s pro-business policies, low cost of living, significant job growth and location in the fastest-growing state in the nation. …

The trend of U.S. population growth being concentrated in the South and the Southwest — which has been true for several decades — continues and, if anything, is intensifying, Emerson said. Of the 15 metropolitan areas that added the most people, only New York (No. 7) and Seattle (No. 15) are not in the South or the Southwest.

“A significant portion of the population growth in these Southern and Southwestern metropolitan areas is not due to the relocation of Americans from colder climates but to the influx of immigrants moving directly into these Southern and Southwestern metropolitan areas,” Emerson said. “This is the secret of Houston’s phenomenal growth over the past decade. It comes not primarily from relocating or retiring Americans but from first-generation immigrants and from their children born in Houston.”

The 30 U.S. metropolitan areas with the greatest population growth, 2000-2010
1.      Houston                               1,231,393
2.      Dallas-Fort Worth                1,210,229
3.      Atlanta                                 1,020,879
4.      Riverside, Calif.                   970,030
5.      Phoenix                                941,011
6.      Washington, D.C.                785,987
7.      Las Vegas                            575,504
8.      New York                            574,107
9.      Miami                                   557,071
10.    Orlando, Fla.                        489,850
11.    Austin, Texas                       466,526
12.    Los Angeles                         463,210
13.    San Antonio                         430,805
14.    Charlotte, N.C.                    427,590
15.    Seattle                                  395,931
16.    Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.   387,246
17.    Denver                                 364,242
18.    Chicago                                362,789
19.    Sacramento, Calif.               352,270
20.    Raleigh/Cary, N.C.              333,419
21.    Minneapolis/St. Paul            311,027
22.    Portland, Ore.                      298,128
23.    San Diego                            281,480
24.    Philadelphia                         278,196
25.    Nashville, Tenn.                   278,145
26.    Indianapolis                         231,137
27.    Columbus, Ohio                   224,217
28.    Jacksonville, Fla.                  222,846
29.    San Francisco/Oakland        211,651
30.    McAllen, Texas                    205,306

Source:www.chron.com