Pittsburgh May Challenge Census Putting City Behind Toledo

Pittsburgh officials said they may challenge a revised U.S. Census Bureau estimate that shows Pennsylvania's Steel City now has fewer residents than Ohio's Glass City.

The U.S. Census Bureau had changed Toledo's population estimate for Ohio's fourth-largest city, putting the city's count at 316,000 people. Pittsburgh totals stand at 311,218.

Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields said there's anecdotal evidence that the city's black population has been undercounted.

There's other evidence that the city's population loss has slowed in recent years, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said.

For Toledo, the increase could net the city another $15 million in funding from the federal government because cities get a percentage of money based on population.

"This makes for a strong argument for metro government," Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said after hearing of the report.

Ravenstahl said if Pittsburgh combines governments, like Florida does with Miami-Dade, that would put Pittsburgh's population at about 1.8 million. He said the city is going to start exploring new ways to look at this.

Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner had challenged the Census Bureau's 2007 population estimate of 295,000, which would have kept Pittsburgh above them on the list. He said Tuesday he was happily surprised by the change.

The city said census officials had underestimated increases in newly constructed and converted housing units.