The 10 Cities with the Highest Population Growth

Texas is big, and when it comes to population, it’s only getting bigger.

The US Census Bureau just released city-level population data for 2015, and Texas stands out in a big way.

There are multiple ways of measuring population growth. When one looks simply at growth as a percentage of population, the leaders end up being small and mid-sized cities. For instance, Georgetown, TX, is the US’ fastest-growing city overall percentage-wise, with a growth rate of 7.8% from July 2014 to July 2015. Yet, the Austin suburb’s overall population is still just 63,716.

The other way to measure population growth is to look at it in simple numerical terms: Which cities are adding the most overall residents? That list is full of major cities, all with more than half a million people.

No matter which way you look at the data, Texas is the big winner. Four of the 10 fastest-growing cities in the US are in Texas, and five of the 10 cities with the highest numerical population growth were in Texas.

In our list, we’ll look at the latter group — cities that added the most people between 2014 and 2015. Before we get to the list, let’s take a look at some of the other findings the Census Bureau reported.

By far, the most growth is occurring in the South and West. The Census Bureau says that all but one of the 15 cities with the highest numerical growth were in those two regions. The lone outlier was New York.

Meanwhile, Cleveland fell out of the Top 50 largest cities in the US, displaced by Arlington, TX, which is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis.

Denver moved into the Top 20 largest cities, as Detroit fell out of that group.

Still, small cities remain the norm in the US. Of the 19,505 cities in the Census Bureau’s database, 76% had fewer than 5,000 people last year.

But let’s get back to the biggest cities. Below are the 10 cities with the highest numerical population growth, along with demographic information, also from the census bureau.

10. Charlotte, NC

2015 Population Growth: 17,695

2015 Total Population: 827,097

Median Household Income: $53,274

Median Home Value: $170,200

9. Denver, CO

2015 Population Growth: 18,582

2015 Total Population: 682,545

Median Household Income: $51,800

Median Home Value: $257,500

8. Austin, TX

2015 Population Growth: 19,117

2015 Total Population: 931,830

Median Household Income: $54,603

Median Home Value: $157,800

7. Dallas, TX

2015 Population Growth: 19,642

2015 Total Population: 1,300,092

Median Household Income: $49,925

Median Home Value: $129,200

6. Fort Worth, TX

2015 Population Growth: 19,894

2015 Total Population: 833,319

Median Household Income: $52,492

Median Home Value: $122,100

5. Phoenix, AZ

2015 Population Growth: 24,614

2015 Total Population: 1,563,025

Median Household Income: $46,881

Median Home Value: $155,900

4. San Antonio, TX

2015 Population Growth: 29,536

2015 Total Population: 1,469,845

Median Household Income: $46,317

Median Home Value: $114,600

3. Los Angeles, CA

2015 Population Growth: 34,943

2015 Total Population: 3,971,883

Median Household Income: $49,682

Median Home Value: $453,800

2. Houston, TX

2015 Population Growth: 40,032

2015 Total Population: 2,296,224

Median Household Income: $45,728

Median Home Value: $125,400

1. New York City, NY

2015 Population Growth: 55,211

2015 Total Population: 8,550,405

Median Household Income: $52,737

Median Home Value: $490,700