Dane County continued to add the most new residents statewide in 2007, but its population growth rate is markedly slowing down.

Dane ranked 27th out of Wisconsin's 72 counties on growth rate last year, according to new statistics from the state Department of Administration released Friday.

For most of this decade the county's annual growth rate has ranked in the top 10. Wisconsin's population growth also tapered last year as it added about 27,000 residents, or 0.5 percent.

Since 2000 it's up nearly 6 percent to about 5.7 million as of Jan. 1, 2008.

Dane County still ranks above average in growth rate, adding 3,045 people in 2007, or 0.6 percent, but the county has consistently grown much faster than the state.

Since 2000, the county has grown 10.6 percent to 471,559, making it the seventh-fastest growing county in Wisconsin.

With 45,000 more residents since 2000, Dane County has added more than twice as many people as the second largest gainer Waukesha County.

The state's growth is concentrated mainly around Madison, the Fox River Valley in the northeast, parts of western Wisconsin near the Twin Cities and in the southeast.

Madison has seen nearly 9 percent growth since 2000. Its population was 226,250 on Jan. 1, up 1,840 over the previous year, a 0.8 percent increase.

Conversely, Milwaukee has seen a 1 percent decline in population since the 2000 census. Verona, with 10,240 people, has grown 45 percent since 2000, making it the fastest growing city in the state this decade.

The city was the second-fastest growing city or village in Dane County in 2007 behind Cottage Grove. Verona added 115 people, a 1.1 percent increase, ranking it ninth fastest growing in the state last year.

All Wisconsin cities with about 50,000 people have grown since 2000 except Milwaukee, Racine, West Allis and Sheboygan. Madison was the second-fastest growing city in 2007 behind Janesville.

Madison has still grown the fastest since 2000 and added the most residents, 18,596, three times the growth in second place Kenosha.

State and local officials use the estimates for a variety of purposes, including the distribution of state funds, district attorney allocation and calculation of voter turnout. State demographers who create the estimates rely on vehicle registrations, tax filings, school enrollment, changes in housing units, institutional enrollment, and birth and death records.