State’s population increases slightly

Connecticut’s population had a slight gain over the past year, with 499 new residents calling the Constitution State home.

The U.S. Census Bureau released the latest national and state population estimates Wednesday which showed Connecticut’s population in 2017 estimated at 3,588,184, up from 3,587,685.

While Connecticut’s population gain is small, it reversed a population decline of 14,434 measured between 2015 and 2016.

Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont, which all lost population in 2016,

all made slight population gains this year. Pennsylvania had a 0.1 percent increase with 18,452. Vermont — the least populated state with 623,354 residents, gained 303.

Population growth in Connecticut and Fairfield County is sluggish, but some communities — Stamford, Shelton and Danbury — are enjoying a growth spurt, according to census figures released earlier this year.

Danbury’s population of 84,922 posted the fastest growth, gaining 335 residents between 2015 and 2016, and growing by 5.1 percent since 2010.

Stamford, with 129,113 people, gained 239 residents and its population grew by 5.3 percent since 2010. Bridgeport, despite a one-year loss, grew by 1.2 percent since 2010.

Norwalk, with 88,438 residents, lost a handful of people between 2015 and 2016, but its population grew by 3.3 percent since 2010, the numbers show.

Shelton, with a population of 41,334, gained 108 residents and is up 4.5 percent since 2010.

The figures released Wednesday showed the U.S. population grew 0.72 percent to 325.7 million. Net international migration decreased 1.8 percent between 2016 and 2017, making it the first drop since 2012-2013. However, net international migration continues to be a significant factor in the population growth of the United States, adding just over 1.1 million people in the past year.

Nationally, eight states lost population between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017. Illinois had the largest decline, losing 33,703 people — a relatively small percentage change compared to its population of 12.8 million. Wyoming had the largest percentage decline with 1 percent.

Idaho was the nation’s fastest-growing state over the past year. Its population increased 2.2 percent to 1.7 million from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017.

Following Idaho for the largest percentage increases in population were: Nevada, 2 percent; Utah, 1.9 percent; Washington, 1.7 percent, and Florida and Arizona, 1.6 percent.

States in the South and West continued to lead in population growth. In 2017, 38.0 percent of the nation’s population lived in the South and 23.8 percent lived in the West.