ALBANY - The Big Apple is getting bigger as most cities in upstate New York - including Auburn - continue to lose more people, according census estimates released Thursday.

Yearly census estimates put Auburn's July 2007 population at 27,317, down from 27,458 a year ago.

In Cayuga County, population dropped from 80,352 to 80,066.

New York City grew by 23,960 people in the 12 months ending July 2007 for a population of 8.27 million, according to the yearly estimates from the U.S. Census. The city has been steadily growing for years and remains a magnet for immigrants and young people.

Population growth in New York has been centered for years in the metropolitan area. Some suburban villages north of the city in the Hudson Valley were among the fastest growing in the state over the 12 months, including Wurtsboro (7.9 percent), the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel (5.2 percent) and Wappingers Falls (4.8 percent).

The story was different around much of upstate New York, where the largest cities showed slight losses in the annual estimate. Buffalo's population of 272,632 was down 0.93 percent over the year; Rochester, at 206,759, was down 0.49 percent; Syracuse, 139,079, down 0.78 percent; Albany, 94,172, down 0.46 percent, according to the estimates.

The numbers reflect a long-term trend of population losses in upstate areas as manufacturing jobs dry up and people settle in the South and the West. California and Texas each had five cities among the 25 fastest-growing cities in the census estimates released Thursday. Politicians in New York are particularly concerned about the exodus of young people just out of college, the so-called brain drain.

Among the upstate cities that grew over the year were Saratoga Springs (up 0.68 percent), Plattsburgh (0.16 percent) and Ithaca (0.14 percent).

Census estimates released earlier this year showed the state's population nudged up over the period by 15,741 to 19.3 million people.

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On the Net

http://www.census.gov/

AP-ES-07-09-08 1421EDT

Cayuga County population chart

The July population estimates for Cayuga County municipalities. Figures for towns do not include the portion of the population that resides in a village within the town:

Municipality 2006 2007

Cayuga County 80,352 80,066

Auburn 27,458 27,317

Cayuga village 490 491

Aurelius 2,433 2,421

Weedsport 1,936 1,924

Brutus 2,770 2,770

Cato village 582 578

Meridian 339 337

Cato town 2.181 2,170

Conquest 1,880 1,870

Fleming 2,684 2,694

Genoa 1,874 1,869

Ira 2,148 2,137

Aurora 745 743

Ledyard 1,121 1,132

Locke 1,866 1,856

Port Byron 1,248 1,241

Mentz 1,114 1,107

Montezuma 1,383 1,373

Moravia village 1,299 1,295

Moravia town 2,255 2,249

Niles 1,212 1,214

Owasco 3,793 3,798

Scipio 1,512 1,505

Sempronius 877 872

Sennett 3,492 3,474

Union Springs 1,050 1,048

Springport 1,204 1,200

Fair Haven 857 852

Sterling 2,496 2,482

Summerhill 1,085 1,080

Throop 1,862 1,877

Venice 1,242 1,236

Victory 1,864 1,854