Census: Largest U.S. cities continue to grow except Detroit

NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- Nineteen of the United States' 20 largest cities grew in population last year as cities in the South and West saw the most increases in people.

The population data was released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The city of Detroit lost more than 31,000 residents and went from being the 18th largest U.S. city to the 21st. Excluding New York City, the 15 cities that gained the most number of people were in the South and West.

Population growth in the United States' biggest cities slowed to a five-year low of 1.03 percent from 2014 to 2015, but the growth nearly doubles the average annual growth of cities from 2000 until 2010.

"We've seen there's been a decline in the growth level of some cities, but it's still the case that cities are growing rapidly in this decade compared to last decade," William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told USA Today. "I'm not ready to write off the decade of the cities."

Denver jumped up two spots to become the 19th largest city after a 2.8 percent population growth -- the largest increase in the country. Seattle gained 15,000 more residents and became the United States' 18th largest city. New York City, the largest city, saw the largest increase in raw population by gaining 55,000 more residents mostly in the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Bronx.

Houston, the fourth-largest city, housed 40,000 more residents last year, while Los Angeles, the second largest city, added 34,000 residents. Chicago's population grew by 25,000 as the city remains the third largest.