Americans flock to urban areas in the past decade, new census data shows

Americans flocked to urban areas at a huge pace over the last decade, new census data shows.

According to MSNBC, the US urban population grew by 12.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, a figure that grew 3 percent faster than the nation's population growth rate.

US census data also showed that eight out of 10 Americans are now urbanites.

Nine out of 10 of the most densely populated areas in the US are in the West the data showed, seven of which are in California.

California was found to have the higest percentage of ubanized people at 95 percent of the population of over 35 million.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach corridor was found to be the most densely populated area at nearly 7000 people per square mile.

Oddly, New York comes in fifth for density with just over 5000 people per square mile.

However, according to the data, the New York-Newark area continues to be the most populous urbanized area, with over 18 million residents.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is the second most populous at over 12 million and Chicago is the third at nearly 9 million people.

The fastest growing urban area is Charlotte, North Carolina, which grew more than 50 percent in the last decade.

Reuters reported that increasing urban populations may pose problems for the nation's 486 urban areas, many of which are under financial strain and are struggling to provide health care, schools, housing and public transport for residents.

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