Albuquerque is the 57th-largest metropolitan area in America, according to national estimates released Friday morning.
Las Cruces is a distant step behind at No. 199.
New estimates put the population of the Albuquerque metro at 907,755 as of July 1, 2011, which is a week from today.
Las Cruces comes next with an estimated metro population of 214,887.
Buffalo Business First, an affiliated publication, has developed a computer program that projects the current populations of villages, cities, towns and counties in New Mexico, as well as metros and micros throughout the United States, based on an analysis of demographic trends since 2000. Updates are published periodically.
The estimates released Friday are the first to take into account the results of the 2010 federal census, which were made public earlier this year.
New York City, with an estimated population of 18.97 million as of July 1, remains the most populous metropolitan area in America. It’s followed by Los Angeles (12.89 million), Chicago (9.51 million), Dallas-Fort Worth (6.53 million) and Houston (6.12 million).
Business First’s formula also projects the dates on which various markets will hit future population milestones.
G. Scott Thomas of The Business Journals compiled this report.