Suburbs have dominated the nation’s postwar growth. During the 1950s baby boom, suburban counties swelled by an average of 3.4 percent a year, about double the urban growth rate and quadruple the rural rate. In the 1970s, widespread white flight caused urban growth rates to plummet to 0.3 percent a year, lower than even the growth rate of rural counties. Cities rebounded a bit in the 1980s, but suburbs still easily led the way through the 2000s.

So far, the 2010s have flipped the script: The recession caused 20-somethings to delay moves to the suburbs, and the appeal of the urban lifestyle has flourished — trends well-documented by leading demographers like William Frey of the Brookings Institution. While suburban and rural growth has slowed considerably, growth in urban counties is slightly up and is now roughly equal to growth in suburban counties: