Philadelphia gained about 77,800 residents between 2010 and 2020, bringing the city’s population to more than 1.6 million, according to the first local and demographic results from the 2020 census, released Thursday.

The city’s population last exceeded 1.6 million in the 1980 census. Philadelphia’s 5.1% population increase in the 2010s was the largest 10-year population increase since 1950, when the city grew by 7.3%. Philadelphia retains its rank as the nation’s sixth-largest city after Phoenix overtook it in recent years.

Gains in Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian populations spurred Philadelphia’s growth. The Census Bureau‘s “Hispanic or Latino” classification includes people of any race who describe themselves as such.

The entire Philadelphia area is growing in population and even more so in diversity. The number of people living in the city and its surrounding counties increased by 5%, but the Hispanic population increased by 36%, the Asian population increased by 39%, and the white population decreased by 4%.

The white population fell in all eight counties. Hispanic and Asian populations have increased in these counties. The black population fell in two of them – Chester County and Philadelphia.

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The decline of Philadelphia’s black population – a loss of about 30,500 people – is the steepest in the city’s history. The decline in the city’s white population – about 11,800 people – is the smallest since the 1940s, when Philadelphia added about 14,000 white residents.

The city’s Hispanic population increased by approximately 50,700 and Asian residents by 36,900.

The bureau said these numbers reflect both actual changes in demographics and improvements in question design, data processing and coding that have allowed for a more accurate picture of how people identify. Nationally, the percentage of people who reported multiple races changed more than the percentage of each group of one race, according to the Census Bureau. The multiracial population has grown from 2.9% of the country in 2010 to 10.2% in 2020.

» READ MORE: Census shows US diversifying, white population shrinking

The 2020 U.S. population figures show continued south and southwest migration and population losses in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia. The Northeast is the slowest growing region in the country.

Between 2010 and 2020, the most populated counties grew the most. Those of 100,000 or more people increased by 9.1%.

The numbers also indicate that the white population is aging and has fallen to its smallest share of the total population on record, although there are some exceptions. The white population share actually increased in coastal communities in the Carolinas and Virginia, as well as in counties stretching across the middle sections of Georgia and Alabama. The under-18 population is increasingly diverse.

Estimates from previous years suggested Philadelphia’s population peaked in 2018 before declining slightly in 2019, but the figure released Thursday by the Census Bureau shows that trend was unlikely.

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Philadelphia increased by approximately 8,500 residents between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

The city’s population peaked in 1950 at over two million. It experienced its greatest decline between 1970 and 1980, during which time it lost over 260,000 residents. In the decades that followed, the population hovered at over 1.5 million.

City and state officials worry the census undercounted their residents due to adjustments to Census Bureau operations during the pandemic, a protracted fight over a failed citizenship issue that could have deterred immigrants from responding and digital divides in the first decennial census in which everyone was encouraged to respond online.

Ron Jarmin, acting director of the Census Bureau, said Thursday it was “too early to speculate” about undercounts or overcounts and that the population counts “meet our high standards of quality.” Datas”.

READ MORE: Federal Missteps in 2020 Census Could Mean Philadelphia Population Undercount

Population figures from the 2020 census will determine the distribution of hundreds of billions of federal dollars to state and local governments over the next decade for services such as housing and food assistance, medical centers, transportation and education. Communities and neighborhood groups adjust their plans for the future based on the makeup of residents and the addition or loss of people.

The once-a-decade population count, mandated by the Constitution, will also be used to redraw electoral district boundaries and to redistribute U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes. In April, the Census Bureau released statewide population totals that confirmed Pennsylvania will lose one of its 18 House seats and one of its 20 Electoral College votes. New Jersey will retain its 12 seats in the House.

Political map drawing is a big issue for both parties: Republicans only need to win five seats to regain control of the House, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey have several competitive districts that, depending on how they are redesigned, can benefit either side. And state legislative maps will help determine state power. Now, with the release of official population data, the race is on to draw these districts — and shape the balance of power in Harrisburg, Trenton and Washington.

Writer Jonathan Lai and The Associated Press contributed to this article.