The Brief
The latest census data reveals the country's fastest-growing cities are mostly in Texas and Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2024 estimates that cities of all sizes saw average growth from 2023 to 2024, with Southern and Western cities expanding the fastest. Leading the pack was Princeton, Texas, which posted a remarkable 30.6% growth rate. Other cities that follow are Fulshear and Celina, Texas, and Leesburg, Florida. "Many population growth rates reversed or saw major changes between 2023 and 2024," Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division,
said in a news release . "Cities in the Northeast that had experienced population declines in 2023 are now experiencing significant population growth, on average. In fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same."
New York City is largest city
The data showed that 12 of the 15 cities with the largest numeric population gains between 2023 and 2024 were located in the South or the West, but the Northeast’s New York, New York still topped the list with an increase of 87,184 residents between 2023 and 2024. Rounding out the top five most populus cities were: Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona.
Largest cities in the US
See the
full report here . Seven cities crossed the 100,000-population threshold, with five of them in the South: Deltona, Florida (100,513); Plantation, Florida (100,694); Sunrise, Florida (100,128); Georgetown, Texas (101,344); and San Angelo, Texas (100,159). The two others are in the West: Tracy, California (100,136), and Federal Way, Washington (100,252).
Population growth changes
Across the nation, cities with populations fewer than 5,000 grew by 0.3% on average, compared with average growth rates of 1.0% for those with populations of 5,000 to 9,999; 1.1% for those with populations of 10,000 to 49,999; and 1.0% for those with populations of 50,000 or more. Princeton city, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, was the fastest-growing city in 2024.
Princeton increased its population by nearly one-third in just one year and has more than doubled it since 2020, from roughly 17,000 to 37,000. Washington, D.C. also added almost 15,000 residents in 2024, nearly doubling its population gain in 2023. Los Angeles, California, returned to the list of top gainers for the first time since 2016, adding over 31,000 residents in 2024, making it third among the nation’s largest-gaining cities. Two cities crossed the 1 million-population threshold between 2023 and 2024 — Jacksonville, Florida (1,009,833), and Fort Worth, Texas (1,008,106).
