Polk County

Rising poverty cast its shadow across the Tampa Bay region in 2009, fueled by the ongoing economic downturn.

The latest government estimates, released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, show the number of people living in poverty has been growing steadily since 2006 in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties.

Children have been hit the hardest in the Bay area, where about one in five people younger than 18 live in poverty, according to census estimates.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After declining for the first time since the end of World War II, Florida’s population grew once again last year, a hopeful yet tentative sign that the worst of the recession may have passed, according to the latest preliminary population estimates from the University of Florida.

The Sunshine State is estimated to have had the modest addition of more than 21,000 residents between 2009 and 2010 after its population fell by more than 56,000 between 2008 and 2009, said Stan Smith, director of UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The following represent city-, county-, and regional-level news stories around the state relating to the BEBR Population Program's recent release of the April 1, 2009 preliminary population estimates.

Brevard's population dipped last year - Florida Today - August 24, 2009
UF: Polk Is Losing People - The Ledger - August 22, 2009

LAKELAND | A new U.S. Census estimate shows Polk County's population growth has slowed but is still stronger than that of Florida as a whole.

The U.S. Census Bureau is releasing estimates today showing Polk County's population as of July 1, 2008, to be 580,594.

That's a 20 percent increase since the 483,924 population recorded in the last census, released April 1, 2000. The increase for the entire state during that time was 14.7 percent.

LAKELAND | The financial crises over the last year and a half and the housing market drying up like crocus on the desert floor has had an impact on Polk County's population growth - six municipalities lost population in the last year.

While the county's population has increased by 21 percent since the U.S. Census Bureau's once-every-decade census in 2000, compared to Florida's rate of 17.7 percent, the gains were made during the first seven years.

Life in Polk County got cheaper in 2006 … relatively speaking. A recently released report from the University of Florida says so, ranking Polk's cost of living 35th out of the state's 67 counties, a decrease from the previous year.

The 2006 Florida County Retail Price Index ranks Monroe as the state's most expensive county, at No. 1, while No. 67 Washington is the cheapest. Polk's new rating was down from 25th in the 2005 report.