In the last few decades, the Columbus Bhutanese community has grown into one of the largest in the world outside of Bhutan, itself. Many of these immigrants were resettled in other parts of Canada and the US, but an increasing number of them have made their way to Columbus and Central Ohio. According to the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio, the area’s Bhutanese population now numbers upwards of 27,000, and projected to surpass 30,000 over the next few years.
This community has already made a local impact, opening new restaurants, shops and cultural and religious centers across the city and region.
After a very long delay, the 2020 Census data has arrived! In this first series of related posts, we will compared Columbus to national peer and Midwest metro areas. Metros used here are those that were within 1.5-2.5 million in either 2010 or 2020, as well as Midwest metros of 500,000 or more in either 2010 or 2020, and all Ohio metros.
Total Population by Metro Area by Year Green metros moved up in the rankings 2010-2020 and red moved down.
Rank
2010
2020
1
Chicago: 9,461,105
Chicago: 9,618,502
2
Detroit: 4,296,250
Detroit: 4,392,041
3
Minneapolis: 3,346,859
Minneapolis: 3,690,261
4
St. Louis: 2,787,701
St. Louis: 2,820,253
5
Pittsburgh: 2,356,285
Orlando: 2,673,376
6
Charlotte: 2,243,960
Charlotte: 2,660,329
7
Portland: 2,226,009
San Antonio: 2,558,143
8
Sacramento: 2,149,127
Portland: 2,512,859
9
San Antonio: 2,142,508
Sacramento: 2,379,382
10
Cincinnati: 2,137,667
Pittsburgh: 2,370,930
11
Orlando: 2,134,411
Austin: 2,283,371
12
Cleveland: 2,077,240
Las Vegas: 2,265,461
13
Kansas City: 2,009,240
Cincinnati: 2,256,884
14
Las Vegas: 1,951,269
Kansas City: 2,192,035
15
Columbus: 1,901,974
Columbus: 2,138,926
16
Indianapolis: 1,887,877
Indianapolis: 2,111,040
17
San Jose: 1,836,911
Cleveland: 2,088,251
18
Austin: 1,716,289
San Jose: 2,000,251
19
Virginia Beach: 1,713,954
Nashville: 1,989,519
20
Nashville: 1,646,200
Virginia Beach: 1,799,674
21
Providence: 1,600,852
Providence: 1,676,579
22
Milwaukee: 1,555,908
Jacksonville: 1,605,848
23
Jacksonville: 1,345,596
Milwaukee: 1,574,731
24
Grand Rapids: 993,670
Grand Rapids: 1,087,592
25
Omaha: 865,350
Omaha: 967,604
26
Dayton: 799,232
Dayton: 809,248
27
Akron: 703,200
Des Moines: 707,915
28
Toledo: 651,429
Akron: 701,449
29
Wichita: 623,061
Madison: 670,447
30
Des Moines: 606,475
Wichita: 643,768
31
Madison: 605,435
Toledo: 641,549
32
Youngstown: 565,773
Lansing: 548,248
33
Lansing: 534,684
Youngstown: 531,420
34
Canton: 404,422
Canton: 396,669
Columbus largely held its own in the rankings this decade, but it poised to eventually pass a few of the metros currently ahead of it.
Columbus had the 2nd highest growth in the Midwest after Minneapolis, and is growing much faster than 3 metros currently ranked ahead of it- Cincinnati, Kansas City and Pittsburgh- which it will likely pass at some point in the future. For Cincinnati, for example, current growth rates would suggest Columbus will pass it sometime around 2027. In any event, Columbus’ metro growth was the highest in its history, and about 10,000 more than occurred during the 2000s.
Data related to metro components of growth, such as immigration and deaths vs. births, have yet to be released. Those should come out sometime next month, and will be posted here when they do.
