Brooklyn is booming with a larger population than ever

New York City’s population grew by 230,704 in three years—a 2.8 percent increase from April, 2010 to July, 2013—rising to 8,405,837 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Of the five boroughs, Brooklyn registered the largest gain at 3.5 percent, or 87,449 people, making its population 2,592,149. Next came Queens (2.9 percent or 65,453 people), Manhattan (2.5 percent or 40,286 people), the Bronx (2.4 percent or 33,625 people), and Staten Island (0.8 percent or 3.891 people).

These increases—caused by positive “net migration” into the city and fewer people leaving the city, as well as a surplus of births versus deaths—“underscore the need to spur creation of housing for all New Yorkers,” said City Planning Commission Chair Carl Weisbrod. “We are focusing on [this] as part of the mayor’s mandate to provide 200,000 affordable housing apartments over the next 10 years.”

This new data shows that the city now comprises 42.8 percent of the state’s overall population, up from 42.2 percent in 2010.