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SALT LAKE CITY (AP/KSL News) -- Most of Utah's fastest-growing cities are small and suburban, with Herriman heading the list in the latest population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Herriman incorporated in 1999 with a population of 800, Mayor J. Lynn Crane said.
The Census Bureau estimates its population at 11,226 as of July 1, 2005.
The bureau's figures released Wednesday estimate Herriman grew 33 percent between July 1, 2004 and July 1, 2005.
Crane believes the estimate is low and the population of the Salt Lake County community actually exceeds 16,000.
Census Bureau counts and estimates often are lower than those by state and local authorities.
Three of the five fastest-growing cities were in Utah County. Eagle Mountain grew by 18 percent in one year to 10,343, Cedar Hills grew by 17 percent to 7,790 and Lehi grew by 15 percent to 31,730.
Washington County continued to see strong growth, with Washington city ranked second to Herriman, growing by 18 percent to 13,669. Hurricane grew by 12 percent.
St. George gained 4,124 people in one year, growing to an estimated 64,201 people in 2005.
The latest figures put Provo's population at 113,459, inching it past West Valley City as the state's second-largest city. Provo increased by an estimated 1,700 people while West Valley gained about 700.
Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, said the difference of 159 people between the two cities falls within the estimates' margin of error.
"The number of people moving in to the state last year was about sixteen thousand. So a quarter of all the in migration into the state was in Salt Lake County", Spendlove said.
Orem, with a population of 89,713, became the fifth-largest city, nudging past Sandy's 89,664 population.
Salt Lake City lost about 400 residents and had an estimated population of 178,097.
Several Utah County cities showed a loss of residents, though they may challenge that, Spendlove said. "Utah County is seeing strong population growth right now," Spendlove said. "It would surprise me to see any Utah County cities seeing population losses. ... That's one of the struggles of the very nature of population estimates. It is not an exact science."
Some other cities are losing folks: Murray, Bountiful, Ogden, Sandy and Taylorsville.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
