People moving out of Springfield: 4 things to know

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its latest estimates of populations throughout the country and Springfield’s population of 59,680 makes it the 616th largest city in the U.S.

Here are four things we learned from the latest census estimates:

1. Other Midwestern cities of about the same size are seeing population declines similar to Springfield’s. We’re losing people at about the same rate as Battle Creek, Mich., and Canton, Ohio.

City2010 populationJuly 1, 2015 population estimatePopulation change 2010-15% population change 2010-15
Elyria, Ohio54,53353,775-758-1.4
Racine, Wisc.78,86077,742-1,118-1.4
Meriden, Conn.60,86859,988-880-1.4
Battle Creek, Mich.52,34651,589-757-1.4
Springfield, Ohio60,60859,680-928-1.5
Canton, Ohio73,01771,885-1,132-1.6
Anderson, Ind.56,17655,305-871-1.6

2. Clark County has lost population, but much more slowly than some other parts of Ohio.

Fastest shrinking Ohio counties
Rank (88 is fastest decline)County20102015% change 2010-15
88Carroll28,83627,811-3.6%
87Jefferson6970967,347-3.4%
86Crawford43,78442,306-3.4%
85Scioto79,49976,825-3.4%
84Paulding19,61418,976-3.3%
77Champaign40,09738,987-2.8%
54Clark138,333135,959

-1.7%

Fastest growing Ohio counties
RankCounty20102015% change 2010-15
1Delaware174,189193,01310.8%
2Franklin1,163,5451,251,7227.6%
3Warren212,868224,4695.4%
4Union52,26754,2773.8%
5Holmes42,36643,9093.6%

3. Detroit has seen the greatest population loss of large cities in the U.S. since 2010 — a more than 5 percent decline — but its losses have slowed in recent years.

No Ohio cities were among the 10 worst for population decline from 2014 to 2015. Springfield’s population declined by 0.4 percent over that one-year time period. Estimates are calculated for July 1 of each year.

Cities with largest estimated population declines from 2014 to 2015
City2014 population estimate2015 population estimatePopulation change 2014-15% change 2014-15
Rocky Mount, N.C.56,27955,806-473-0.8
Wichita Falls, Texas105,677104,710-967-0.9
Hampton, Va.137,813136,454-1,359-1.0
Gary, Ind.77,96077,156-804-1.0
Hammond, Ind.78,43477,614-820-1.0
Decatur, Ill.74,07173,254-817-1.1
Charleston, W.V.50,32649,736-590-1.2
Albany, Ga.75,86374,843-1,020-1.3
Marietta, Ga.60,05859,067-991-1.7
Valdosta, Ga.56,66555,724-941-1.7

4. Our Springfield has the worst population trend of the Springfields in the U.S.

Springfield’s with more than 50,000 population
City2010 population2015 population estimatePopulation change 2010-15% change 2010-15
Springfield, Mo.159,441166,8107,3694.6
Springfield, Ore.59,38260,8701,4882.5
Springfield, Mass.153,195154,3411,1460.7
Springfield, Ill.116,418116,5651470.1
Springfield, Ohio60,60859,680-928-1.5

How many people live in your city? Search the U.S. Census estimates from 2010 to 2015 for cities, villages and townships.

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