SW Valley Times

The No. 10 most populated city in the U.S. is the Phoenix metro, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows. 

The Phoenix metro had 4,948,203 residents in July 2019, which allowed the Valley to take Boston's spot as No. 10, the U.S. Census Bureau said in data it released on March 26. 

The Valley may be ranked 10, but the Phoenix metro was the third fastest population gainer, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The metro was also the area in the Valley that had the fastest-growing population as well. 

Phoenix and surrounding areas grew by 755,074 people from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2019. Approximately 207 people were added to the Valley each day during that 10 year period. 

The metro areas that are ranked in the top three for population growth in the last decade are New York-New Jersey as No. 1, Los Angeles as No. 2 and Chicago as No. 3. These three metros have remained the same from the previous year. While they may be the top three, their populations have actually decreased from the previous year. 

Many California residents have actually been moving to Arizona, Census data shows. Maricopa County in Arizona was the nation's fastest growing county in a 10-year period. 

The county saw 83,011 residents added in the last 12 months of the 10 year period alone, the Census data said. 

Not only is the county the nation's fastest growing, but it is the fourth most populated county in the U.S. as well. It is behind Los Angeles County in California, Cook County in Illinois and Harris County in Texas, Census data showed. 

Other counties in the West had large increases in population growth too, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. 

Counties in Texas, Washington, Nevada and California were in the top ten for the nation for the fastest growing. 

Maricopa County also have the biggest increase in job growth, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released in February 2020 showed. There was a 3.2% employment increase in the county from September 2018 to September of the next year.