Despite a marginal population increase of 0.1% -- an estimated 4,094 people -- metro Detroit continues to drop in rank among the nation's most populous areas, Kristi Tanner reports in the Free Press.
According to data relased by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Detroit region dropped from 13th to 14th in population rankings from 2011 and 2012. In 2010, metro Detroit ranked 12th. Phoenix's metro area, with an estimated 4,329,534 residents, surpassed metro Detroit, which now stands at 4,292,060. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago continue to have the largest metropolitan areas with population sizes of 19.8 million, 13 million and 9.5 million, respectively.
Paul Tait, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, characterized the news as not all bad, saying, "We stabilized."
