Where US Populations Are Growing Fastest
Annual estimates, not survey averages — the measure actually built for year-over-year comparison.
Population change since 2020 across 1,574 published cities of 25,000 or more. 1,036 of them grew; the median city changed by +1.4%.
Key findings
- Fulshear, TX grew fastest, up 210.1% since 2020 to 54,629 residents.
- 1,036 of 1,574 cities added residents — 66% of the group.
- Florence, AZ contracted most, down 8.8%.
Fastest growing
| City | Change since 2020 | Population (2024) | Most recent year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fulshear, TX | +210.1% | 54,629 | rising |
| Celina, TX | +190.0% | 51,661 | rising |
| Princeton, TX | +110.7% | 37,019 | rising |
| Forney, TX | +61.3% | 38,572 | rising |
| Hutto, TX | +51.9% | 42,661 | rising |
| Haines City, FL | +50.5% | 42,073 | rising |
| Saratoga Springs, UT | +49.9% | 57,411 | rising |
| Georgetown, TX | +47.5% | 101,344 | rising |
| Amherst Town, MA | +47.4% | 40,989 | flat |
| Prosper, TX | +44.4% | 44,503 | rising |
| Leander, TX | +43.8% | 87,511 | rising |
| Fort Mill, SC | +43.8% | 36,244 | rising |
| Kyle, TX | +41.8% | 65,833 | rising |
| Waukee, IA | +41.3% | 34,420 | rising |
| Lathrop, CA | +40.3% | 40,860 | rising |
| Leesburg, FL | +39.4% | 37,815 | rising |
| Queen Creek, AZ | +37.6% | 83,781 | rising |
| Leland, NC | +36.9% | 34,451 | rising |
| Eagle Mountain, UT | +35.8% | 60,575 | rising |
| Fuquay-Varina, NC | +34.0% | 46,317 | rising |
Contracting
| City | Change since 2020 | Population (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Florence, AZ | −8.8% | 24,891 |
| Greenville, MS | −8.4% | 27,015 |
| Jackson, MS | −7.6% | 141,449 |
| St. Louis, MO | −6.9% | 279,695 |
| Brooklyn Center, MN | −5.7% | 31,755 |
| New Iberia, LA | −5.5% | 26,849 |
| Shreveport, LA | −5.5% | 176,578 |
| Manhattan Beach, CA | −5.4% | 33,453 |
| San Francisco, CA | −5.4% | 827,526 |
| New Orleans, LA | −5.4% | 362,701 |
Population estimates are revised with each vintage as new administrative data arrives. AreaProfile snapshots every release, so a revision is visible as a change in the record rather than silently replacing what came before.
"Most recent year" is the single latest annual step, not the four-year figure beside it — a city can show strong cumulative growth since 2020 built mostly on an early jump (a base-year revision, for instance) while its most recent year is flat or falling, and the two columns are reporting exactly that rather than disagreeing about the same thing.
Methodology
Percent change in the Census Population Estimates Program annual estimate between 2020 and the latest vintage, for published cities of 25,000 or more. These estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison. AreaProfile deliberately does not compute population change from ACS five-year releases: consecutive releases share four years of sample and the Census Bureau advises against comparing them.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2024)
Related
Every figure here is recalculated from the same measurements the profiles use. See the methodology for how the underlying data is collected and normalized, and the editorial policy for how these reports are written.