Dallas Gains, N.Y. Leads in Population Estimates

Dallas edged past Texas rival Houston in the Census Bureau’s latest population estimates for the nation’s 281 metropolitan areas, but New York continued to lead the list by a wide margin.

The New York metro area remained far and away the most populous in the country, with an estimated 17,967,800 residents. Los Angeles was second, with 13,074,800. The Los Angeles area had a gain of 2.4% since 1985, whereas New York’s growth has been slower--2.4% since the 1980 census.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area moved up from ninth to eighth place on the list of the nation’s largest urban areas, with a population estimated at 3,655,300 as of July 1, 1986, up from 3,535,800 in 1985.

At the same time, Houston slipped a notch, despite an estimated population growth from 3,605,500 to 3,634,300.

10 Largest

The top 10 metro areas with their population estimates as of 1986:

New York, 17,967,800; Los Angeles, 13,074,800; Chicago, 8,116,100; San Francisco, 5,877,800; Philadelphia, 5,832,600; Detroit, 4,600,700; Boston, 4,055,700; Dallas, 3,655,300; Houston, 3,634,400, and Washington, 3,563,000.

In general, Sun Belt metropolitan areas in the South and West continued to have the strongest growth.

The study focused on metropolitan areas, estimating the populations of residents living in regions that have close social and economic ties despite being divided into more than one political jurisdiction.

Among the major metropolitan areas--those with 1 million people or more--only Phoenix grew faster than Dallas between 1980 and 1986, the study said.

Phoenix had a 1986 estimated population of 1,900,200, up from 1,816,700 a year earlier and 25.9% more than in 1980. It ranked 21st on the list of metro areas.

Three large metropolitan areas continue to lose population: Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Cleveland. But two others, Detroit and Milwaukee, which had been losing people since 1980, showed slight gains between 1985 and 1986.