DC population change graph. Image from Google.

Ten years ago, DC Mayor Anthony Williams famously set a goal of attracting 100,000 new DC residents within a decade. Pundits scoffed, but the latest population estimates show we made it closer than most imagined possible.

The official US Census population estimate for DC in 2003 was 563,384. The latest estimate for 2013 is 646,449. That’s an increase of 83,065.

In 2003, DC’s population was still shrinking. It had been about 569,000 in 2002, and 572,000 in 2000. Young single people had started flocking to some parts of DC, but families leaving for the suburbs still outnumbered people moving in and being born. Halting the decline seemed possible, maybe even likely, but growing by 100,000 people in a decade seemed outrageously optimistic.

And to be fair, we didn’t quite make it. 83,000 isn’t 100,000. But it’s awfully impressive, awfully close. Far more than just about anybody thought possible.

DC’s population peaked at 802,178 in 1950, then declined for the next half century. If today’s impressive growth rate continues into the future, we’ll catch up and surpass the 1950 high sometime in the mid 2020s.

We’ll have to keep up impressive growth to meet Mayor Gray’s goal of 250,000 new residents by 2032.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.