CINCINNATI — Greater Cincinnati’s population increased 5.6% in the last 10 years to more than 2.25 million, according to 2020 Census data released Thursday.

That’s faster growth than Akron, Cleveland and Dayton but slower than Columbus, Indianapolis and Louisville.

The 2020 Census, which represents a snapshot of the U.S. population as of April 1, 2020, takes on added importance this year.

That’s because the official count at the end of each decade is used to apportion seats in Congress, government funding and rank regional rivals. Growing cities often tout their population gains in marketing campaigns, while shrinking towns use the numbers as a call to action.

To that end, Cincinnati has some positive numbers to share. It’s the 30th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area, ranking ahead of Columbus, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Nashville, all cities against which it competes for jobs and corporate investments. Also, for the first time in 70 years, it has a growing urban core. Census data show the city of Cincinnati grew 4.2%, to 309,317, since 2010.

But Greater Cincinnati lags some of its regional peers in the number of fast-growing counties. Only Boone and Warren counties had growth rates above 10% since 2010. The Indianapolis metro has five such counties, while Columbus has three.

While the numbers are important for economic development reasons, they are a crucial ingredient for state redistricting committees, which revise legislative districts at the state and federal level every 10 years.

It will be a hotly contested process in Ohio this year because the Buckeye State will lose one Congressional seat and Republicans need only five seats nationwide to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The redistricting challenge is greater this year because the Census data is being released much later than in prior years, said Michael Finney, chief financial officer of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University.

It has a state contract to create data maps that the Ohio Redistricting Commission uses to compare how boundary changes impact the number of voters in every legislative district. The data provides block-level head counts that include age and race information.

Finney said it will take about two weeks for Ohio University to finalize its data maps. Members of the redistricting commission will combine that data with voting records and other information to decide which boundaries the political boundaries should be.

“This year, given the fact that the release of the data is so late, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on the map makers,” Finney said, “to make their maps and meet the deadlines that are in the Ohio constitution.”

The redistricting commission faces a Sept. 1 deadline to draw new districts for Ohio politicians, while the deadline for Congressional districts is Sept. 30.

The Census Bureau has been criticized for delays and questioned about the accuracy of the 2020 Census. Last week, the bureau announced it would delay the release of its American Community Survey, which includes more information about poverty, housing and demographics, because it didn’t have big enough samples in all geographies.

But Finney said the data released Thursday has everything Ohio University needs to complete its data maps.

“I’m not concerned about the accuracy,” Finney said. “It’s the data that we use every 10 years. It is the 100% count from the Census Bureau … This is the data that the Ohio constitution requires.”

Diversity across the U.S. continues to grow, and the growth of Asian Americans may be one of the starkest examples of that.

“Asian Americans are projected to become the largest group in the U.S. by 2065,” said Neil Ruiz, Associate Director of Race and Ethnicity Research with Pew Research.

Pew analyzed data from the American Community Survey from the census.

“Since 2009, there are more immigrant arrivals coming from Asia than Latin America, which is really contributing to this Asian American population growth,” said Ruiz.

The population of Asians in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 2000, making them the fastest growing community of color in the country.

Alyssa Nilemo loves seeing her community blossom.

“I’m grateful for my community and how it’s supported me,” she said.

Nilemo is a member of the Colorado Asian Chamber of Commerce. She sees the growth of the community.

“We see places like, here, where we have small business owners, restaurants, sort of our cultural hub as it were,” said Nilemo.

But being a growing sector of society comes with growing pains. Hate crimes targeting Asians rose by 164% over last year.

“We are seeing a rise in violent crimes against Asians, but I don’t want to give the false impression that racism and that outburst towards Asians is something new,” said Nilemo.

But the rate of Asian American growth is new. Both Ruiz and Nilemo trace this growth back more than 50 years.

“This wave of Asian immigration is an outcome of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act passage,” said Ruiz.

“Ever since the 1960s, when we saw a lift on those immigration bans start, this has been a steady increase,” said Nilemo.

“Before 1965, Asians and Latin Americans were banned from coming into the United States,” said Ruiz.

That law, the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, allowed Asians to freely immigrate to the U.S. In 1960, there were less than 1 million Asians in the country. Today, there are almost 24 million.

As the population numbers grow, people like Nilemo are encouraging others to seek out and learn more about Asian culture.

“Come engage in community centers like this. Try the food, look up some resources, like the Asian Chamber that can connect you with Asian owned businesses,” said Nilemo.