Census: Maryland sees 7% population increase in past decade

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s population has increased by 7% over the past decade, and the state’s number of congressional seats will stay the same, according U.S. census data released Monday.

Maryland has seen an increase of 403,672 people from 2010, the report said. Maryland’s 2020 population is 6,177,224, compared with 5,773,552 in the 2010 census.

“We’ve had more births than deaths in Maryland, and we’ve had a portion of that international migration that the country has been experiencing happening here in Maryland,” said Rob McCord, the secretary of the Maryland Department of Planning, adding that the state was not expected to gain or lose congressional seats.

Maryland has eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Maryland is now the nation’s 18th most populous state, moving up a spot from 19th in 2010.

Maryland outgained some of its neighboring states in population. Pennsylvania saw a 2.4% increase. West Virginia saw a drop in population of 3.2%.

Some of the state’s neighbors saw higher increases than Maryland. Virginia had a 7.9% increase, and Delaware’s population went up 10.2%. The District of Columbia’s population went up 14.6%.

Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281, the Census Bureau said. That’s a 7.4% increase that was the second-slowest ever.

The census release marks the official beginning of the once-a-decade redistricting battles. The numbers released Monday, along with more detailed data expected later this year, will be used by state legislatures or independent commissions to redraw political maps to account for shifts in population.

The state population figures known as the apportionment count determine not only political power but the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year.