![\"NYC](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/NYC-population-growth-compressed.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: Andrew\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nOver the last year, New York City’s population grew by 55,000 \u2014 an increase not seen since the 1920s when landmark immigration legislation brought new waves of people to the United States.<\/p>\n
New data from the US Census Bureau say the city\u2019s population has reached a high of 8,550,405, with increases across all five boroughs. Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx actually led the City and all New York State counties in population growth. Together, the three boroughs account for 84 percent of the city’s growth.<\/p>\n
The increases are credited to a growing birth rate, declining death rate, more people moving to the city, and fewer people leaving the city. The trend has become more pronounced in the last five years in which the City\u2019s population increased by 375,000 residents or about 4.6 percent.<\/p>\n
And a recent City report says that by 2040, NYC\u2019s population is projected<\/a> to reach over 9 million, growing by 783,000 residents from 2010 levels.<\/p>\n A population growing at that rate also means growing demand on urban infrastructure. Improvements are already under way for the City’s gas lines<\/a>, which are 56 years old on average, compared to 44 years old nationally.<\/p>\n