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

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May 19, 2016, 10:18 ET

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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.

Texas was home to five of the 11 fastest-growing cities in the country between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015 with a population of at least 50,000 people. Georgetown was the fastest-growing city in the nation.

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 http://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) .

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.

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Detailed tables
Tables: 2015 Cities and Towns
Tables: 2015 Housing Units

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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
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
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
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