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Census: Local cities growing

By Peggy Blackburn
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Communities in Elmore County are continuing to see population growth, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The calculations are cover a period from April 2000 through July 1, 2007.

Millbrook remains one of the fastest-growing cities in Alabama with a 46.8 percent increase from 11,214 to 16,462 -- an addition of 5,248 people. Wetumpka’s growth rate is listed as 30.48 percent, rising from 5,813 to 7,585 in the 7-year period.

Estimated growth in other Elmore County communities was: Coosada, 14.67 percent, from 1,411 to 1,618; Eclectic, 10.51, from 1,037 to 1,146; Elmore, 9.49 percent, from 474 to 519; Deatsville, 9.41 percent, from 340 to 372 and Tallassee, 3.98 percent from 4,925 to 5,121.

“I’m not surprised by the numbers for our city that have been released,” said Wetumpka Mayor Jo Glenn. “We knew that our population was growing larger.”

As a whole, Elmore County is the fourth fastest-growing in the state with a 17.7 percent gain in population from 2000 to 2007. Census figures estimate that the number of residents grew from 65,874 to 77,525 in that time.

And population numbers also continue to rise in neighboring Prattville, located in Autauga County. Prattville has grown by 22.86 percent, from 26,074 to 32,034. Autauga County is the fifth-fastest growing county in the state at 14.4 percent, with the number of residents increasing by 6,289.

Municipal population figures do not include residents who live in the police jurisdictions of those cities and towns.

At press time, the Census Bureau had not released city rankings by percentage and number growth or decline.

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