Del. population grows 14 percent

If you’ve lived in Delaware the last 10 years, you may have noticed a few more people around.

That was confirmed Tuesday when the U.S. Census Bureau announced Delaware’s population has grown more than 14 percent since 2000. That means the state has added more than 114,000 new residents in that span.

Delaware still ranks 45th in the nation in population size, the same rank it held in 2000. Despite the growth, Delaware does not merit another representative in Congress and will continue to have only one representative in the U.S. House.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Census, says the massive undertaking was a success.

“The census came in on track and under budget,” he said. “It’s not every day that we hear of a government agency returning over a billion dollars to the Federal Treasury, and that achievement should be recognized and applauded.”

Nationwide, the once-a-decade headcount of Americans shows the U.S. population has grown to 308.7 million, the lowest growth since the Great Depression. That’s an increase of 9.7 percent since 2000.

Texas gained the most people, up 4.3 million residents to 25.1 million. Nevada has gained the most residents as a percentage, growing 35.1 percent.

The new numbers show Delaware with a population of 897,934, compared to 783,600 in 2000.

Politically, Texas gained four House seats and Florida picked up two, while New York and Ohio each lost two seats as a result of the new count.

Also gaining a seat were Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

States losing a seat were Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.