From the 2010 Census tally of 305,704 to the 2014 Census estimate of 305,412, Pittsburgh’s population change was described today by a researcher as “pretty close to net zero” which is quite different from earlier times. In fact, just a decade ago, the change in population from the 2000 Census (334,563) to four years after (322,450) was a 3.6% drop, compared to the 0,09% decrease the numbers indicate from 2010 to 2014.
If we look at Pennsylvania’s four cities with a population greater than 100,000 (there were four as of the 2010 Census) we see a western half-eastern half dichotomy at play. Pittsburgh and Erie lost population from 2010-14 (Erie dropped under 100,000 to 99,452) and Allentown and Philadelphia gained population (0.9% and 2.2%, respectively).
In late March the Census Bureau released county estimates, and that showed Allegheny County as a whole grew 0.61% from 2010-14. Based on the 2010 Census total for the County (1,223,348) and the 2014 Census estimate (1,231,255) the non-Pittsburgh population increased 0.89% between 2010 and 2014.
