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For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 19, 2016

Five of the Nation’s Eleven Fastest-Growing Cities are in Texas, Census Bureau Reports

Press Release Number CB16-81

May 19, 2016 — Georgetown, Texas, saw its population rise 7.8 percent between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015, making it the nation’s fastest-growing city with a population of 50,000 or more, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Georgetown is part of the Austin-Round Rock metro area, which crossed the 2 million population threshold in 2015 for the first time, according to statistics released earlier this year. This metro area is also home to Pflugerville, the nation’s 11th fastest-growing large city. Austin itself added more people over the period (19,000) than all but seven other U.S. cities.

Texas was home to five of the 11 fastest-growing cities (New Braunfels, Frisco and Pearland were the others), and five of the eight that added the most people (Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Dallas were the others).

New York remained the nation’s most populous city and gained 55,000 people during the year ending July 1, 2015, which is more than any other U.S. city. New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a separate county equivalent of New York State. The five boroughs are Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island. Queens (16,700), Brooklyn (16,000) and the Bronx (13,700) accounted for the bulk of New York’s growth.

Denver joined the list of the 20 most populous cities in the United States, moving up two spots to 19th. It displaced Detroit, which fell from 18th to 21st. In addition, Seattle moved up two spots to 18th. Denver and Seattle were both among the nation’s 11 top numerically gaining cities.

Among the 15 fastest-growing cities, the only one outside the South or West was Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. It grew by 6.5 percent, ranking third. Ankeny completed a special census on Dec. 10, 2014, that showed the population to be 54,598. The 2015 estimate puts the population at 56,764.

The statistics released today cover all local functioning governmental units, including incorporated places (like cities and towns), minor civil divisions (such as townships) and consolidated cities (government units for which the functions of an incorporated place and its parent county have merged).

Other highlights:

  • Seven cities crossed the 100,000 population threshold between 2014 and 2015: Hillsboro, Ore.; Vista, Calif.; Greeley, Colo.; Davie, Fla.; San Angelo, Texas; Jurupa Valley, Calif.; and Renton, Wash.
  • Seven cities crossed the 50,000 population mark for the first time between 2014 and 2015: Poway, Calif.; Bonita Springs, Fla.; Edina, Minn.; Galveston, Texas; Logan, Utah; Leesburg, Va.; and Olympia, Wash. Two cities dropped below this threshold: Troy, N.Y., and Charleston, W.Va.
  • Aside from New York, each of the 15 cities that gained the highest number of people between 2014 and 2015 were in the South or West. Three were in California (Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco).
  • Arlington, Texas, rejoined the list of the 50 most populous cities, displacing Cleveland.
  • Among the 50 largest cities in the country, there were several other cities that moved more than one position on the population ranking list since 2014. In addition to Denver and Seattle, Portland, Ore., rose two positons to 26th; Baltimore fell three positions to 29th; Colorado Springs moved up two positions to 40th; and Omaha, Neb., fell two positions to 43rd.
  • Last December, the Census Bureau released state population estimates that showed North Carolina crossed the 10 million population threshold for the first time. Contributing to the state reaching this milestone were Charlotte, which added nearly 18,000 people to make it the 10th largest numerical gainer in the country, and Raleigh added roughly 11,000 people to rank 18th. These two cities accounted for almost 28 percent of the state’s population growth.
  • California and Arizona each had two cities on the list of the 15 fastest growing.
  • Mount Pleasant, S.C., was the nation’s 10th fastest-growing city. Mount Pleasant is part of the Charleston-North Charleston metro area, one of the nation’s 20 fastest growing.
  • Of the 19,505 incorporated places in the United States, around 76 percent (14,804) had fewer than 5,000 people in 2015. Only about 3.9 percent (754) had populations of 50,000 or more.

For more information about the geographic areas for which the Census Bureau produces population estimates, see //www.census.gov/popest/about/geo-topics.html.

Housing Units

Also released today were July 1, 2015, estimates of the number of housing units for the nation, states and counties. These estimates show that Texas gained more housing units than any other state between 2014 and 2015 (adding 162,000), with North Dakota experiencing the fastest rate of growth in the number of units (3.5 percent). Among counties with at least 2,000 housing units, McKenzie, N.D., added units at the fastest rate over the period, as the number rose 55.9 percent (from 3,760 to 5,862) .

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To produce population estimates for cities and towns, the Census Bureau first generates county population estimates using a component of population change method, which updates the latest census population using data on births, deaths, and domestic and international migration. This yields a county-level total of the population living in households. Next, updated housing unit estimates and rates of overall occupancy are used to distribute county household population into geographic areas within the county. Then, estimates of the population living in group quarters, such as college dormitories and prisons, are added to create estimates of the total resident population.

Table 1. The 15 Fastest-Growing Cities Between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015, With Populations of 50,000 or More on July 1, 2014

Rank

Area Name

State Name

Percent
Increase

2015 Total Population

1

Georgetown city

Texas

7.8

63,716

2

New Braunfels city

Texas

6.6

70,543

3

Ankeny city

Iowa

6.5

56,764

4

Frisco city

Texas

6.3

154,407

5

South Jordan city

Utah

6.0

66,648

6

Dublin city

California

5.5

57,721

7

Pearland city

Texas

5.3

108,821

8

Milpitas city

California

5.3

77,604

9

Broomfield city

Colorado

5.2

65,065

10

Mount Pleasant town

South Carolina

4.7

81,317

11

Pflugerville city

Texas

4.5

57,122

12

Fort Myers city

Florida

4.4

74,013

13

Murfreesboro city

Tennessee

4.4

126,118

14

Goodyear city

Arizona

4.3

79,003

15

Buckeye town

Arizona

4.3

62,138



Table 2. The 15 Cities With the Largest Numeric Increase Between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015, With Populations of 50,000 or more on July 1, 2014

Rank

Area Name

State Name

Numeric Increase

2015 Total Population

1

New York city

New York

55,211

8,550,405

2

Houston city

Texas

40,032

2,296,224

3

Los Angeles city

California

34,943

3,971,883

4

San Antonio city

Texas

29,536

1,469,845

5

Phoenix city

Arizona

24,614

1,563,025

6

Fort Worth city

Texas

19,894

833,319

7

Dallas city

Texas

19,642

1,300,092

8

Austin city

Texas

19,117

931,830

9

Denver city

Colorado

18,582

682,545

10

Charlotte city

North Carolina

17,695

827,097

11

Seattle city

Washington

15,339

684,451

12

Jacksonville city

Florida

13,069

868,031

13

San Diego city

California

12,677

1,394,928

14

Washington city

District of Columbia

12,392

672,228

15

San Francisco city

California

12,279

864,816


Table 3. The 15 Most Populous Cities on July 1, 2015

Rank

Area Name

State Name

2015 Total Population

1

New York city

New York

8,550,405

2

Los Angeles city

California

3,971,883

3

Chicago city

Illinois

2,720,546

4

Houston city

Texas

2,296,224

5

Philadelphia city

Pennsylvania

1,567,442

6

Phoenix city

Arizona

1,563,025

7

San Antonio city

Texas

1,469,845

8

San Diego city

California

1,394,928

9

Dallas city

Texas

1,300,092

10

San Jose city

California

1,026,908

11

Austin city

Texas

931,830

12

Jacksonville city

Florida

868,031

13

San Francisco city

California

864,816

14

Indianapolis city (balance)

Indiana

853,173

15

Columbus city

Ohio

850,106



Page Last Revised - December 16, 2021
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