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By Keith Burbank Bay City News Service
The San Francisco metropolitan statistical area – which includes San Mateo County – added the 11th biggest number of people between 2014 and 2015 among the nation’s 381 MSAs, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released March 24.
In addition to San Mateo County, the metropolitan statistical area consists of Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa and Alameda counties.
The MSA added 60,152 people and was one of only 16 MSAs in the country to add more than 50,000 people.
In percentage terms, population grew by 1.3 percent from 4,595,980 to 4,656,132.
The population of the MSA has been growing due to an increase in the number of jobs in the Bay Area over the past five to seven years, especially in technology and healthcare, said Hing Wong, senior regional planner for the Association of Bay Area Governments.
The population growth is causing or exacerbating a couple of the area’s challenges. Population has grown faster than the number of housing units, Wong said. Another challenge is the crowded transportation network.