Washington state population grows 13% since 2000

Washington state's population has grown by 13 percent since 2000 and now has 6.7 million people, according to figures released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the past year, the state's population grew by 1.6 percent, the Census Bureau found.

It's the last annual population count before the 2010 Census.

Washington's total population gain over the nine years was 770,000, which included 772,000 births and 424,000 deaths.

Texas gained the most population over the past year, followed by California, North Carolina and Georgia. California remained the most populous state with 37 million people as of July 1, followed by Texas with 24.8 million and New York, with 19.5 million.

Wyoming showed the largest percentage growth, 2.12 percent, over the past year, the Census Bureau found. Utah was next, with 2.1 percent growth. Only three states lost population over the past year, Michigan, Maine and Rhode Island.

According to the Census Bureau, net domestic migration has slowed dramatically in the South and West and in some states more people are moving out than in, including Florida and Nevada.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com