LEWISTON — For the first time in three decades, Lewiston reversed its trend of losing population, thanks to the influx of Somali immigrants.

From 2000 to 2010, Lewiston’s population grew by 902, or 2.5 percent, according to U.S. Census numbers released Thursday.

In the past decade, Auburn’s population went down slightly, by 148. Androscoggin County grew by 3.8 percent, while the state population grew to 1.32 million, an increase of 4.2 percent.

Lewiston’s population grew to 36,592 from 35,690. “It’s good news,” Lewiston Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said. “This first report is welcome news after 30 years of declining population.”

A growing population says the city is a vital place, he said. “When you’re a growing community, that communicates something positive. … It’s much harder to make a positive case when your community is shrinking.”

In the 1960s, the city’s population was around 41,000. Lewiston gained in the 1970s Census count but we lost population in 1980, 1990 and 2000. “Coming off three declines, reversing that decline is significant,” Nadeau said. “We were hoping for that.”

Somali immigrants account for most of the growth. The influx has changed the city, creating a younger, more diverse population and a more interesting place, Nadeau said.

But Lewiston’s population growth is not only about the refugees, Nadeau said.

“(Before the recession), we had more subdivision development than we have had in decades,” he said. “More people are building and buying homes.” Lewiston has more homes than ever worth $300,000 and up, he said.

The Walmart Distribution Center and the health care industry added jobs. The city worked to keep existing businesses from leaving and the state university and the Lewiston School Department delivered quality education “in a community that’s not wealthy,” Nadeau said. “It’s multiple strategies, spinning all those plates.”

Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce President Chip Morrison said the numbers don’t show big changes, but they illustrate that populations grew in Maine’s larger cities, Lewiston, Portland, South Portland and Bangor.

“The flight from urban areas isn’t what it was. That’s good news,” Morrison said. “That reversed a trend in 2000 when they all went down.”

The exception was Auburn, but Auburn’s population shrunk by less than 1 percent. Morrison said he was surprised to see that Auburn’s population declined slightly, considering the city has gained a lot of new housing units. “But more units don’t always equal population growth,” he said.

Growing populations create “momentum,” Morrison said. “People look at growth as doing well, even though that isn’t necessarily true.”

Percentage wise, the Androscoggin County municipality with the biggest population growth was Wales, which grew to 1,616 from 1,322, a 22 percent spike.

Wales recently voted to close its only school in June due to declining enrollment. Selectman Paul Burgess said he expected the town’s population would be around 1,500. Before the recession, Wales had a lot of new houses built, but that construction slowed. “Last year we only had one new house,” he said.

In Oxford County, Rumford had one of the bigger population losses, down to 5,841 people, a drop of 9.75 percent.

Maine has the oldest population, age-wise, in the country, so fewer people is not surprising, Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia said. His family illustrates the story, he said. His wife’s parents are deceased, her brother and sister-in-law retired and moved to Florida. His father has died, his mother moved to another community.

“The younger population can’t remain here because there aren’t the jobs that support them,” Puiia said.

He’s relieved that Rumford’s numbers aren’t as low as some predicted, but “it still speaks to the downsizing of our community.” It’s hard to see Rumford with fewer people, he said. But Rumford “still remains a service-center community. We still have a hospital, we still have the mill, we still have the banking.”

In Franklin County, tiny Carrabassett Valley had the largest growth, percentage-wise, from 399 to 781 people, a 95 percent increase. Farmington’s population grew to 7,760, a 4.7 percent increase.

Statewide, it’s good news that Maine’s population grew, said Maine State Planning Office Economist Thomas Merrill. It’s too early to tell how more people will affect the economy, he said.

Cumberland County added the most people to the state, 16,000, accounting for 30 percent of Maine’s growth from 2000 to 2010, Merrill said. Androscoggin added 3,909 people; Oxford, 3,076; and Waldo County, 2,500.

Maine held its own with population growth compared to other New England states, Merrill said. Maine’s population growth was 4.2 percent, compared to New Hampshire’s 6.5 percent and Massachusetts’ 3.1 percent.

Staff Writer Terry Karkos contributed to this report.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com