According to the Indy Star, Indiana's growth over the past 10 years has been fueled by two dramatic shifts -- a population surge in the suburban counties that ring Indianapolis and a huge increase in the state's Hispanic population.

Consider these two telling statistics, culled from new data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau:

The eight-county metro area -- Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan and Shelby counties -- accounted for 57 percent of the state's overall 6.6 percent population increase.

Interactive: Track the population shifts on our map

Overall, Indiana grew by 6.6 percent -- or 403,317 -- to a population of 6,483,802. Among neighboring states, only Kentucky had a larger growth rate (7.4 percent) since 2000. Indiana's rate topped those of Illinois (3.3 percent), Ohio (1.6 percent) and Michigan (-0.6 percent).

Although Indiana is growing, many of its larger cities are not. The population of Evansville decreased by 3.4 percent; South Bend decreased 6.1 percent; Hammond decreased 2.7 percent; and Gary decreased by the largest amount -- 22 percent.

Indianapolis, however, grew 4.8 percent to 829,718 -- and two of its neighbors, Carmel and Fishers, were the fastest-growing communities in the state.

The suburban boom was driven by jobs, housing and quality-of-life issues such as schools, housing options, parks and low crime rates, said Matt Kinghorn, a demographer with the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

The five fastest-growing counties in the state were all in the metro area. Hamilton County had the largest growth rate among Indiana's 92 counties, increasing its population 50 percent since 2000.

Next was Hendricks County (40 percent growth), followed by Hancock (26 percent), Boone (23 percent) and Johnson (21 percent).

Within Hamilton County, the populations of Carmel and Fishers more than doubled since 2000 -- because of new residents moving in and annexations that brought existing residents into the cities. Carmel, at 79,191 people, is now the state's eighth-largest city and almost certainly will soon pass Gary, Bloomington and Hammond to become the fifth-largest.

After Carmel and Fishers, the third fastest-growing city among the state's 20 largest cities was Noblesville, at 82 percent.

Read more about the census here.

Source: http://www.indystar.com; published February 11, 2011