Orange County Sees Population Gain, High Birth RaIe In Slow-Growth State

The outward migration of residents from Orange County has been reversed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A new playground at Woodbury Commons, located in Orange County, which continues to enjoy population growth and a high birth rate.
Photo Credit: *Facebook*

03/23/2018 2:00 p.m.

Orange County enjoyed one of its largest population growth rates from 2016 to 2017 in a state with slight growth according to the Census Bureau’s latest population estimates.

Orange County, which suffered a net loss of nearly 2,700 residents from 2011 to 2012, witnessed a gain of more than 200 new residents from 2016 to 2017. Orange gained about the same number of people the prior year, according to the Census Bureau.

Orange County’s estimated population of 382,226 as of July 1, 2017 was up by about 2,300, or 0.6 percent, from the year before, attributed largely to an increase in newborns.. (Orange tied with Rockland County with the second-highest birth rate last year.)

Orange’s increase was the fifth-highest in New York -- a state in which about half of its 62 counties lost population from 2016 to 2017.

Proximity to New York City made a difference. The mid-Hudson counties closest to the city - Rockland and Westchester - both had net migration losses from 2016 to 2017.

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