North Carolina’s population crossed the 10 million mark by adding an average of 281 people per day during the last year, according to new U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates released Tuesday.
North Carolina is now the ninth state with at least 10 million people. Its population gain from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015, ranked it only behind Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and Washington.
North Dakota was the nation’s fastest growing state for the fourth year in a row. Its population increased 2.3 percent, followed by 1.9 percent growth in Colorado, Nevada and the District of Columbia.
Seven states saw lower populations between July 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015, but each lost a quarter percent or less of their residents: Illinois, West Virginia, Connecticut, Mississippi, Maine, Vermont and New Mexico.
Florida added more people than California for the first time in nearly a decade. Its gain of roughly 366,000 people helped it become the third state to reach the 20 million people milestone. California continued to be the most populous state on July 1, 2015, with 39.1 million, followed by Texas with 27.5 million.
The United States a whole saw its population increase by 0.79 percent over that period to 321.4 million, a slight increase from the previous one-year period.
