New Census data shows Southwest Florida’s population isn’t growing as fast as it had been.

About a decade ago, Florida had some of the country’s fastest growing cities. Lee County’s population grew by more than 20 thousand between 2006 and 2007, alone.

However, new U.S. Census data shows population growth in Florida actually steadied between 2010 and 2012.  In fact, no Florida metropolitan area even made it into the top 30 this year in terms of population growth.

In Southwest Florida, the highest spot when to Fort Myers, which ranked number 47 in terms of growth.

Florida Gulf Coast University economist Gary Jackson said Florida was among the states that were hardest hit during the economic recession, which is mostly to blame for the slowdown in population growth.

“So, the areas that have been growing fairly quickly are the ones that weren’t hit as hard by the great recession,” Jackson said. “A lot of them were oil-related areas like Texas or North Dakota.”

Jackson said since 2012, however, the economy has been rebounding. He said Southwest Florida will likely start seeing steady population growth from here out – even though it likely won’t be as fast as it was ten years ago.