According to new estimates from the US Census Bureau, New York State's population increased by more than 50,000 in the year preceding July 2014.

The state's population stood at 19.746 million residents last July, which represents a 0.26% increase from the 19.696 million July 2013 estimate and a 1.9% increase from the 2010 census.

Rockland County saw its population increase by 0.90%, the biggest one-year growth. Growth has been strongest in Brooklyn (4.67%) and Queens (4.07%) in the past four years. However, upstate cities generally saw their drop in population.

New York City has seen the greatest population growth since 2010. According to the census bureau, there was a 3.86% increase, to 8.4 million residents. Staten Island grew at slowest rate i.e. 0.97%.

The New York City's suburbs were the next fastest-growing region. It grew by 1.23% to nearly 5.2 million residents. Much of that increase occurred in two mid-Hudson counties, particularly Rockland (3.91%) and Westchester (2.48%).

The state's fastest-growing municipality was with more than 10,000 people was in Orange County (0.88%). The village of Kiryas Joel grew 10.27% over the past four years. Sullivan (2.07 percent), Ulster (1.12 percent) and Dutchess (0.31%) saw decreases in population. Nassau and Suffolk grew by a combined 1.01%, reaching 2.86 million residents.

Since 2010, Buffalo has lost 1% of its long-declining population. This will be the city's seventh consecutive decade of population loss.

The other upstate cities that lost residents over the past four years were Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica and Poughkeepsie.

Of the 21 counties in the state's most rural regions, the Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley and North County), only four have had a net gain of residents in the past four years.