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Bowing to the dazzle of a Las Vegas suburb and a Nebraska city settled by salt prospectors, Fort Wayne slipped two positions to become the nation’s 73rd largest city last year.
Henderson, Nev., and Lincoln, Neb., edged past the city, which was ranked 71st in 2007 and 70th in 2006, according to the latest census population estimates.
With an estimated population of 251,591, Fort Wayne remained nearly unchanged from the year before, with a 0.4 percent growth rate that placed it near the bottom quarter among cities with more than 100,000 people.
The numbers are estimates from July 1, 2008. More precise figures will not be available until 2010, when the U.S. Census Bureau conducts another full head count.
Henderson, a few minutes from the famous Las Vegas Strip, is “nestled among three of the most renowned man-made attractions – the neon of Vegas, the engineering marvel of Hoover Dam, and the tranquil beauty of Lake Mead,” according to the town’s Web site.
Lincoln, founded by salt prospectors who later turned to farming, is “one of the Midwest’s most affordable, accessible, and agreeable cities,” according to the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. A day’s drive from Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis and Des Moines, Iowa, Lincoln “offers all the amenities of a bustling big city with plenty of opportunities to get back to nature if you choose.”
Fort Wayne – “a truly surprising and inspiring city” home to Vera Bradley, DeBrand Fine Chocolates, a renowned zoo and genealogical library, according to the Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Web site – received a population boost in 2006 when it annexed much of Aboite Township.
That increase helped the city pass the 250,000 mark and post a 22 percent population increase since the decade began. But had the current city boundaries existed in 2000, Fort Wayne’s population would have remained unchanged, according to census results
Discounting changing boundaries through the years that increase the number of residents overnight, Avilla in Noble County fared the best among northeast Indiana’s cities and towns, with a population increase of 18 percent since 2000. The town, in the southeast corner of the county, has 2,417 residents.
Of all northeast Indiana cities and towns, about half had population declines.
Elsewhere in Indiana, it has been boom times for some small towns. With population jumps of 7 percent each, Winfield near Crown Point in Lake County along with Ingalls and Avon outside of Indianapolis had the fastest one-year growth last year. Winfield, population 4,484, has been the fastest growing community since 2000, with a 113 percent increase.
Among the nation’s places with the largest rate of decline since the decade began were two Hoosier cities. South Bend’s population dropped 4.2 percent to 103,807, and Evansville had a 4.4 percent dip to 116,309. The two were among the 20 cities with the largest population plunge.
Continuing to regain some of the population lost after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was the nation’s fastest-growing large city. With an estimated 311,853 people, the city marked an 8.2 percent increase last year but remained well short of the pre-hurricane level of 484,674.
New York, with 8.4 million residents, is the nation’s largest city, more than twice the size of runner-up Los Angeles with 3.8 million. Chicago is third largest with 2.9 million.
