As the housing market heated up and New York City refugees began flooding into Orange County a decade ago, all eyes were on southeastern Orange — that prime turf where commuters can jump on the Thruway or board buses and trains for the city each morning.

But in spite of its reputation as the epicenter of Orange County’s growth, the 2010 census counts released last month show that southeastern Orange grew at a relatively modest pace in the last decade, eclipsed by places with greater commuting distances.

The Town of Monroe picked up 712 more residents in the areas outside its villages — almost 1,300 fewer people than the Census Bureau had estimated a year earlier. The Town of Warwick grew by 1,301, but those people were scattered across an area more than half the size of Rockland County. Blooming Grove added 677 souls.

By contrast, Middletown and the Town of Wallkill each grew by about 2,700 people.

Two places in southeastern Orange merited the region’s high-growth reputation. Kiryas Joel, the always-booming Hasidic enclave within the Town of Monroe, grew by more than 7,000, the largest population increase by far in the region. And the neighboring Town of Woodbury grew by nearly 1,900, a 20 percent population increase.

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