Greeley is the nation’s second-fastest- growing metro area percentagewise since 2000, new census figures show.
Only St. George in southwestern Utah grew faster in the first six years of the decade. The Greeley area added 55,996 residents, growing 31 percent to an estimated 236,857 on July 1, 2006. Births outpaced deaths by nearly 3-to-1, while internal and international migration accounted for a net gain of more than 41,000 people.
Grand Junction was the 46th-fastest- growing metro area, its population increasing 14.8 percent to an estimated 134,189. Colorado Springs came in 67th (11.5 percent growth to 599,127), the Denver-Aurora area ranked 76th (10.5 percent growth to 2,408,750) and Fort Collins-Loveland ranked 85th (9.8 percent growth to 276,253).
Greeley’s growth was somewhat slower from 2005 to 2006, putting it 15th among metro areas during that period.
