Latest U.S. Census Data on Cities: Florida and Texas Still Dominant in Growth

The latest U.S. Census Bureau “Population Growth Reported Across Cities and Towns in All U.S. Regions” reports “Cities of all sizes grew on average from 2023 to 2024 with Southern and Western cities experiencing accelerated growth.”

Interestingly, the fastest growing cities since the last census were all Red States in the South. Topping the list of fastest-growing cities was Princeton, Texas with a remarkable 30.6% growth rate (Table 1).

Not one city from California made the fastest-growing cities list. However, Los Angeles made the “The 15 Cities With the Largest Numeric Increase Between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, With Populations of 20,000 or More as of July 1, 2023.” (Table 2).

San Antonio, TX gained the most over 2020 to 2024, at 92,000 new residents (Table 2). The cities of Houston and Fort Worth were close behind, at 90,000 each.

“The balance of the top ten included Charlotte, Jacksonville, Port St. Lucie, Florida, Phoenix, Miami, Seattle and Cape Coral, Florida. Moreover, Florida had four of the top ten, while Texas had three,” reports Unleash Prosperity.

“New York City, Houston and Los Angeles saw the greatest numeric gains during this time and some cities in the Northeast and Midwest marked their first population increase in recent years.”

Small towns win: “The West also showed population growth, where cities and towns with fewer than 5,000 people saw a modest average increase of 0.5%, while larger cities and towns with populations between 10,000 and 49,999 recorded an average growth rate of 1.0% — the same rate observed in places with 50,000 or more residents,” the census reports.

Of interest in the census bureau report:

• 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 yearand has more than doubled it since 2020, from roughly 17,000 to 37,000.
• Washington, D.C., 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. (Illegal immigration?)
• Two cities crossed the 1 million-population threshold between 2023 and 2024 — Jacksonville, Florida (1,009,833), and Fort Worth, Texas (1,008,106).
• The United States continues to be a nation of small towns. In 2024, 75 percent of its 19,479 incorporated places — 14,603 cities — had populations under 5,000. Only 4.2% (817 cities) had populations of 50,000 or more, and 1.8% (342 cities) had populations of 100,000 or more.

“The West also showed population growth, where cities and towns with fewer than 5,000 people saw a modest average increase of 0.5%, while larger cities and towns with populations between 10,000 and 49,999 recorded an average growth rate of 1.0% — the same rate observed in places with 50,000 or more residents.”

“The South experienced the highest average population growth of any region. Cities and towns in the South with populations between 5,000 and 9,999 residents experienced the highest average increase of 1.6%. Those with populations ranging from 10,000 to 49,999 also saw an average growth rate at 1.6%. In contrast, places with population below 5,000 recorded a much lower average growth of 0.6%.”

FYI – equally interesting: Technical Notes from the Population Growth Reported Across Cities and Towns in All U.S. Regions:

This release includes updates from the 2020 Census Count Question Resolution Operation (CQR) and 2020 Post-Census Group Quarters Review Program (PCGQR), which have been incorporated into the April 1, 2020, estimates base. CQR errata tables with original and corrected housing and population counts are available on the 2020 Decennial Census Notes and Errata webpage.

In June, the Census Bureau is scheduled to release estimates of the July 1, 2024, population by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin for the nation, states, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties, and population by age and sex for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico municipios. The data will be embargoed. The full release schedule for the Population Estimates Program can be found on the Census Bureau’s website.

With each new release of annual estimates, the entire time series of estimates is revised for all years back to the date of the last decennial census. All previously published estimates (e.g., old vintages) are superseded and archived on the FTP2 site.