• Growth and decline: Primary cities in large metro areas with populations of more than 1 million grew by 1.1 percent last year, compared with 0.9 percent in surrounding suburbs.

• Measuring up: In all, city growth in 2011 surpassed or equaled that of suburbs in roughly 33 of the nation's 51 large metro areas, compared to five in the last decade.

• Making gains: About 52 of the 73 cities with population of greater than 250,000 showed faster annual growth (or slower rates of losses) in 2011 than their average growth over the last decade. Cities switching from declines to gains included Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Paul.