• 162 million people (58%) live in the 50 largest metropolitan areas of the U.S.
• An estimated 100 million lost persons live in these large metros.
• New York (21 million) and Los Angeles (16 million) continued to lead in population in 2000.
• One of every 7.5 Americans lives in these two metropolitan areas.
• Metros experiencing the largest net and percentage growth are in the South and West regions.
• The 50 largest metros account for 63 percent of the nation's net population growth between 1990 and 2000. (Net gain was 20.5 million in these areas.)
• Las Vegas (83%), Austin (48%), and Phoenix (45%) were the fastest growing metros.

Download full Research Report, America's 50 Largest Metros 1990-2000
This Research Report may also be of interest, America's Mid Level Metropolitan Areas
Download PowerPoint® Slides

Are New Churches More Likely to Close? No.   The statistics of closure for new churches are not necessarily higher than established churches.   

• Over the time period studied (1976 to 1990) there was a slight tendency to locate new Nazarene congregations in “less Nazarene” counties.
• While new Nazarene congregations are still smaller, on average, than older Nazarene congregations, even after ten years, they are well on their way to attaining the same average size as other Nazarene congregations.
• It is the actual number of Nazarene churches and, even more so, the number of Nazarene churchgoers that affects new congregational growth, not the percent of the county that is Nazarene.
  • For all years, beginning with the first year a congregation is organized, the average attendance is higher if the church is located in a county with four or more other Nazarene congregations in the county.
     
• Do New Nazarene Churches “Do Better” When Started Near Existing Nazarene Churches? A Report to the Church of the Nazarene by Daniel V. A. Olson, The Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Indiana University South Bend, August, 2002 

This report examines population and population changes in the United States and compares them to the changes in Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches and resident membership for the years 1990 and 2000. This information is examined at the national level, by the four census regions of the country, by the nine census divisions, and by states. 

• In the South, there are 3,027 people for every Southern Baptist church.
• There are 79,048 people for every Southern Baptist church in the Northeast.