Texas Dominates Census Bureau’s ‘Fastest Growing’ U.S. Cities List

The newest figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show Texas continues to dominate the list of the nation’s fastest growing cities and towns.

The bureau identified municipalities with populations of 50,000 or more during the period from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017. Five Texas cities, headed by San Antonio, experienced the largest population gains nationwide. Additionally, seven of the 15 fastest growing U.S. cities or towns were in the Lone Star State.

San Antonio topped this year’s list of cities with the largest growth in population. The Alamo City added 24,208 new residents during the tracked one year period. This reflects a growth rate of 1.6 percent. An average of 66 people a day moved to San Antonio.

“This growth was enough to push San Antonio’s population above the 1.5 million mark,” said Amel Toukabri, a Census Bureau demographer. San Antonio also remains the nation’s seventh largest city with a total population of 1,511,946 residents.

Other Texas metropoles with the largest numeric increases included Dallas, ranking third. The Big D added 18,935 new residents with a total population of more than 1.3 million. Fort Worth came in fourth. Over the year, the city added 18,664 people, reflecting a population of 874,168. Austin placed 12th.

Also in the top 15 from other states were Phoenix, Arizona (2); Seattle, Washington (6); Charlotte, North Carolina (7); Columbus, Ohio (8); Atlanta, Georgia (10); Jacksonville, Florida (13); and Henderson, Nevada (15). Three cities represented California: Los Angeles (5), San Diego (11), and Irvine (14).

In 2017, the  Census Bureau said 10 of the 15 fastest-growing large U.S. cities and towns were in the South. This holds true again this year. Seven are in Texas.

Frisco, with an 8.2 percent population increase, topped the 2018 list of the 15 fastest-growing large U.S. cities and towns. This suburb north of Dallas spans over Collin and Denton counties. It added nearly 13,500 people to reflect a total population of 177,286. Frisco ranked ninth on the Census Bureau’s top 15 list of U.S. cities with largest population gains.

The sprawling suburb is a highly trafficked destination because of its shops, eateries, and entertainment. It houses the $1.5 billion Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility on a 91-acre campus that includes offices, restaurant, a theater, and retail. The Dallas Stars are based in Frisco as well. Recently, Breitbart Texas reported the city is adding Frisco Station, a 242-acre mixed-use real estate project.

Behind Frisco, New Braunsfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked second. It saw an 8 percent increase in residents. Austin suburbs Pflugerville and Georgetown placed third and sixth, respectively; and nearby Cedar Park took 13th place. McKinney, adjacent to Frisco, came in ninth. Another Dallas suburb, Flower Mound, was 11th.

The other fastest-growing U.S. cities and towns were Ankeny, Iowa (4); Buckeye City, Arizona (5); Castle Rock, Colorado (7); Franklin, Tennessee (8); Meridian, Idaho (10); and Bend, Oregon, (12). Two Floridian cities rounded out the top 15  — Doral (14) and Fort Myers (15).

Fourteen of the top 15 largest U.S. cities remain unchanged since 2016. Thus, New York continues to reign as the nation’s largest city with more than 8.6 million people, followed by Los Angeles with a population of 4 million. Chicago, again, ranked third with 2.7 million residents. Phoenix placed fifth, adding 24,000 people to total more than 1.6 million.

Fourth-ranked Houston has more than 2.3 million people but only added around 9,000 people since last year’s census figures. Dallas, which came in ninth, boosted its population to more than 1.3 million residents. Fort Worth bumped up to become the 15th largest U.S. city with a population of 874,168.

Also during the 2016-17 year period, Utah was the fastest-growing state in terms of housing units, with an increase of 2.1 percent. Idaho and Colorado took second and third place. West Virginia and Rhode Island, however, tied for the slowest-growing housing figures with increases of only 0.2 percent.

Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.