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For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 25, 2017

The South Is Home to 10 of the 15 Fastest-Growing Large Cities

Press Release Number CB17-81

Texas Cities Continue to Top the Charts

MAY 25, 2017 — Ten of the 15 fastest-growing large cities were located across the South in 2016, with four of the top five in Texas, according to new population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Conroe, Texas (near Houston), was the fastest-growing large city (population of 50,000 or more) between 2015 and 2016 at 7.8 percent, making its growth rate more than 11 times the nation’s growth rate of 0.7 percent. Some of the other fastest-growing cities were: Frisco, Texas (6.2 percent); McKinney, Texas (5.9 percent); Greenville, S.C. (5.8 percent); and Georgetown, Texas (5.5 percent).

“Overall, cities in the South continue to grow at a faster rate than any other U.S region,” said Amel Toukabri, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s population division. “Since the 2010 Census, the population in large southern cities grew by an average of 9.4 percent. In comparison, cities in the West grew 7.3 percent, while cities in the Northeast and Midwest had much lower growth rates at 1.8 percent and 3.0 percent respectively.”

Four cities in the West — Bend, Ore.; Buckeye, Ariz.; Lehi, Utah; and Meridian, Idaho — were among the top 15 fastest growing. Only one city in the Midwest, Ankeny, Iowa, topped the list while no cities in the Northeast were among the nation’s fastest growing.

The statistics released today  cover all local governmental units, including incorporated places (such as 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).

Later this summer, the Census Bureau will release additional population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin for the nation, states and counties.

Find more highlights from this year's release below and local-level statistics on census.gov. Tag @uscensusbureau in stories and email <pio@census.gov> to interview a subject expert.

Columbus, Ohio, Surpasses Indianapolis to Become the 14th Most Populous U.S. City

While the overall list of the 15 largest U.S. cities did not change since 2015, Columbus, Ohio, surpassed Indianapolis, Ind., becoming the 14th largest city in the United States with a population of 860,090. Indianapolis has a population of 855,164.

  • New York remains America’s largest city by a wide margin. Its July 1, 2016, population of 8.5 million makes it more than twice as large as the next largest city, Los Angeles.
  • Los Angeles remains the second-largest city, with a population of about 4 million. Despite a population loss of 8,638, Chicago remains the third-largest city, with a population of 2.7 million.
  • Phoenix, Ariz., had the largest numeric increase of any city, by adding 32,113 (about 88 people per day on average) between 2015 and 2016.

Population Change in Small Towns and Regional Differences

Of the 19,510 incorporated places in the United States, around 76 percent (14,801) had fewer than 5,000 people in 2015, whereas only 3.9 percent (752) of cities had a population of 50,000 or more. Since 2015, on average, these small towns have seen uneven growth across U.S. regions:

  • Northeast small towns declined by 0.5 percent.
  • Midwest small towns declined by 0.3 percent.
  • Small towns in the South grew by 0.2 percent.
  • Western small towns saw the largest growth with an increase of 0.8 percent.

Midsized cities in the Northeast, places with populations between 5,000 and less than 10,000, experienced relative stability, seeing a small average decline of 0.1 percent since the 2010 Census. Midsized cities in the other regions experienced population growth, on average.

Crossing Population Milestones

  • League City, Texas, was the only city to cross over the 100,000 population mark in 2016, reaching 102,010.
  • Five cities crossed the 50,000 population mark between 2015 and 2016. All five areas are in the West:
    • Aliso Viejo, Calif. (51,424)
    • Parker, Colo. (51,163)
    • Logan, Utah (50,676)
    • Cerritos, Calif. (50,555)
    • Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (50,285)

Housing Unit Growth Remained Below Pre-2007 Levels in Nearly All States

The nation's housing stock grew by 911,000 last year to reach 135.7 million. The growth rate of 0.7 percent last year was roughly half of what it was in 2007 (1.4 percent). Housing unit growth last year remained below pre-2007 levels in nearly all states except North Dakota (up 1.6 percent last year, compared to a 0.9 percent increase in 2007), the District of Columbia (up 1.4 percent, compared to a 0.9 percent increase in 2007) and Iowa (returning to the 2007 level of 0.7 percent growth). 

The 15 Fastest-Growing Large Cities between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016 (Populations of 50,000 or more in 2015)

Rank

City Name (Metro area title in parentheses)

State

Percent
Increase

2016 Total Population

1

Conroe city (Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land)

Texas

7.8

82,286

2

Frisco city

(Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)

Texas

6.2

163,656

3

McKinney city

(Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)

Texas

5.9

172,298

4

Greenville city

(Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin)

South Carolina

5.8

67,453

5

Georgetown city

(Austin-Round Rock)

Texas

5.5

67,140

6

Bend city (Bend—Redmond)

Oregon

4.9

91,122

7

Buckeye city (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale)

Arizona

4.8

64,629

8

Bonita Springs city (Cape Coral-Fort Myers)

Florida

4.8

54,198

9

New Braunfels city (San Antonio-New Braunfels)

Texas

4.7

73,959

10

Murfreesboro city (Nashville-Davidson—Murfreesboro—Franklin)

Tennessee

4.7

131,947

11

Lehi city (Provo-Orem)

Utah

4.6

61,130

12

Cedar Park city (Austin-Round Rock)

Texas

4.5

68,918

13

Meridian city (Boise City)

Idaho

4.5

95,623

14

Ankeny city (Des Moines-West Des Moines)

Iowa

4.5

58,627

15

Fort Myers city (Cape Coral-Fort Myers)

Florida

4.5

77,146

 

 

The 15 Cities With the Largest Numeric Increase Between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016 (Populations of 50,000 or more in 2015)

Rank

Area Name

State

Numeric Increase

2016 Total Population

1

Phoenix city

Arizona

32,113

1,615,017

2

Los Angeles city

California

27,173

3,976,322

3

San Antonio city

Texas

24,473

1,492,510

4

New York city

New York

21,171

8,537,673

5

Seattle city

Washington

20,847

704,352

6

Dallas city

Texas

20,602

1,317,929

7

Fort Worth city

Texas

19,942

854,113

8

Houston city

Texas

18,666

2,303,482

9

Austin city

Texas

17,738

947,890

10

San Diego city

California

15,715

1,406,630

11

Charlotte city

North Carolina

15,656

842,051

12

Jacksonville city

Florida

13,455

880,619

13

Denver city

Colorado

13,028

693,060

14

Miami city

Florida

12,715

453,579

15

Washington city

District of Columbia

10,793

681,170


The 15 Most Populous Cities: July 1, 2016

Rank

Area Name

State

2016 Total Population

1

New York city

New York

8,537,673

2

Los Angeles city

California

3,976,322

3

Chicago city

Illinois

2,704,958

4

Houston city

Texas

2,303,482

5

Phoenix city

Arizona

1,615,017

6

Philadelphia city

Pennsylvania

1,567,872

7

San Antonio city

Texas

1,492,510

8

San Diego city

California

1,406,630

9

Dallas city

Texas

1,317,929

10

San Jose city

California

1,025,350

11

Austin city

Texas

947,890

12

Jacksonville city

Florida

880,619

13

San Francisco city

California

870,887

14

Columbus city

Ohio

860,090

15

Indianapolis city (balance)

Indiana

855,164

 

Population Change Between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016

Population Less Than 5,000 as of 2015

Region

Number of Areas

Average Numeric Change

Average Percent Change

(1)Northeast

1,440

-7

-0.5

(2)Midwest

7,019

-1

-0.3

(3)South

4,999

6

0.2

(4)West

1,343

12

0.8

Population With 5,000 to 9,999 as of 2015

Region

Number of Areas

Average Numeric Difference

Average Percent Difference

(1)Northeast

298

-11

-0.2

(2)Midwest

543

13

0.2

(3)South

579

64

0.9

(4)West

249

104

1.4

Population With 50,000 or More as of 2015

Region

Number of Areas

Average Numeric Difference

Average Percent Difference

(1)Northeast

78

368

0.0

(2)Midwest

158

337

0.3

(3)South

234

1,989

1.3

(4)West

282

1,678

1.1

 -X-

Contact


Virginia Hyer
Public Information Office
301-763-3030
pio@census.gov

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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