Americans Are Flocking to Texas

"Four Texas metropolitan centers were among the biggest population gainers as Americans continued their trend of moving to the Sun Belt in 2006 and 2007, according to Census Bureau estimates to be released Thursday (3/27). Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 people between July 2006 and July 2007, the most of any metro area.

"Detroit lost more than three times as many people as any other metropolitan center: more than 27,300 residents.

Experts credit much of the growth in the South to relatively strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the United States."

The anomaly among the top 10 regions with the highest population gains was Chicago at #7.

"Among other findings:

-- On a percentage basis, the Palm Coast, Fla., area was the fastest-growing in the nation. Population there jumped by 7.2 percent to more than 536,000.

-- New Orleans and its suburbs, recovering from Hurricane Katrina, grew by 4 percent, or nearly 40,000 people, putting it 16th in terms of raw numbers and eighth for percentage growth. During the same survey last year, the population of New Orleans had dropped by nearly 290,000 people."