The Change Mariner

U.S. Population Nears 300 Million, Pushed by Growth in South & West

San Francisco Chronicle:

The U.S. population grew by 2.8 million in the past year and is edging toward 300 million, a threshold that should be reached within four years.
The South and West added the most people in the year that ended July 1, and Nevada was the fastest-growing state for the 17th consecutive year, according to Census Bureau estimates Thursday.

The overall population grew 1 percent, to nearly 291 million people. Immigration and a high birth rate among Hispanics -- now the nation's largest minority group -- helped fuel the increase.

The 1920 census was the first to record 100 million Americans, a figure that took nearly 150 years for the country to attain. The 200-million mark was surpassed 50 years later.

At the current rate, the nation will be home to 300 million people within four years, said John Haaga, director of domestic programs at the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit demographic research group.

Americans continue flocking to the South and West, with those regions accounting for about three-quarters of the growth in the last year. Nevada was the fastest-growing state, adding nearly 74,000 people, or 3.4 percent, to its population.

William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, said climate and affordability are t