The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In The United States For 2023


We looked at the most recent Census data and compared it to the 2010 to determine the fastest growing big cities in the US.

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One could argue home prices are the best single metric for determining how great a place is — that whole supply and demand thing.

But, just like happiness, money can’t tell you everything about how great a place is. Instead, look at cities with people kicking down doors to get a chance to live there.

We are, of course, talking about the fastest growing cities in America. These hot pockets of demand that you better snatch up while still possible.

For reference, America’s annual population growth rate during this time period was .75% good for 4.5% overall, so anything over that grew really fast.

What’s the fastest growing city in America for 2023? Well look at that — Frisco is the fastest growing large city in America according to the most recent Census data.

In fact, it seems like people have been listening to our rankings as many of the best places in each state are in the top ten here.

So maybe that whole price of houses thing might eventually correlate with city growth as it seems to have done in Frisco. Guess I should have moved there instead of Durham 6 years ago.

To see exactly how we calculated these rankings, read on. Or if you’re not looking to move where all the cool kids are going, check out:

The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In America For 2023

Proving the basic concepts of economics, Frisco shows that the fastest growing city in the US costs a bunch to live in also — it’s one of the richest cities in the country according to our data.

In terms of population growth, 82.62% growth in a 11 year period comes out to a 5.89% compound annual growth rate. That’s about 8x faster than the US as a whole.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 188,387
Population 2010: 103,158
Absolute Change: 85,229
Percent Change: 82.6%
More on Frisco: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Frisco, TX

There’s a pretty big drop between the 2nd and 3rd fastest growing cities as McKinney has ‘only’ had a 61.14% growth. That’s still good for 6.5x the American average.

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population Now: 191,197
Population 2010: 118,652
Absolute Change: 72,545
Percent Change: 61.1%
More on Mckinney: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Mckinney, TX

Source: Public domain

For Idaho, Meridian counts as a major metropolis. With 107787 residents, it ranks among the state’s biggest cities. As it turns out, it also represents a boom town, with its population climbing 56.32% in a 10-year span.

Why are these people flocking to Meridian? Well, quietly, this has become a regional economic hub. The town provides a home for both the state police and Blue Cross of Idaho. It also has major cultural attractions, such as the Meridian Symphony Orchestra.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 107,787
Population 2010: 68,953
Absolute Change: 38,834
Percent Change: 56.3%
More on Meridian: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Meridian, ID

Source: Public domain

Oh, sugar, Sugar Land, what a place to be. It’s the 4th fastest-growing city in America thanks to 55.84% since 2010.

So you could pour some sugar on Sugar Land, where sugar would be people.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 118,563
Population 2010: 76,080
Absolute Change: 42,483
Percent Change: 55.8%
More on Sugar Land: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Sugar Land, TX

It’s at this point that you’ll begin to realize that Texas dominates the top ten. Pearland ranks as the 5th fastest growing large city in America and is the smallest in the top ten.

In fact, Pearland wouldn’t have even had enough people to qualify for the 100,000 person threshold in 2010 — it broke that mark for the first time in 2015.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 125,817
Population 2010: 82,748
Absolute Change: 43,069
Percent Change: 52.0%
More on Pearland: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Pearland, TX

Well, I’ve never heard of Kent until now, but apparently it’s a happening place on the west coast. With a population increase of over 45.38%, it has to be pretty sweet.

That growth puts it at about 8x the US average too.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population Now: 130,038
Population 2010: 89,446
Absolute Change: 40,592
Percent Change: 45.4%
More on Kent: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Kent, WA

Source: Public domain

Heading back to Texas, Round Rock rocks out in the 7th spot.

Along with Pearland, it only recently broke the 100k population threshold — 2012 to be exact.

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population Now: 128,812
Population 2010: 93,092
Absolute Change: 35,720
Percent Change: 38.4%
More on Round Rock: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Round Rock, TX

And coming in 8th in our top ten fastest growing cities in the US is Murfreesboro, TN.

The first city from the South to make the list, it jumped into the top ten for the first time a couple of years ago.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population Now: 141,704
Population 2010: 102,602
Absolute Change: 39,102
Percent Change: 38.1%
More on Murfreesboro: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Murfreesboro, TN

There’s somehow more Texas cities in the list this year than last year. In this case, League City just broke the 100,000 mark we use and has been appearing on lists left and right this year — from safest places to live to affordable. Therefore, it would make sense to see them here as one of the fastest growing.

The city has grown 37.32% since 2010.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 105,410
Population 2010: 76,764
Absolute Change: 28,646
Percent Change: 37.3%
More on League City: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

League City, TX

California makes an appearance for the first time with Irvine coming in at the 10th spot.

I would have expected more California cities on the list, but I guess population growth in earlier in the 2000s set the bar too high. Irvine added 73,577 people in this frame.

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population Now: 272,694
Population 2010: 199,117
Absolute Change: 73,577
Percent Change: 37.0%
More on Irvine: Real Estate | Crime | Cost Of Living

Irvine, CA

Source: Public domain

Methodology: How We Determined The Fastest Growing Cities in The US for 2023

Fastest Growing Cities In America Graph
There are a couple of ways to measure how fast a city is growing:

  1. % Change Year Over Year
  2. % Change This Decade
  3. Absolute change in population

We went with option two for this analysis — how much have these cities grown since 2010 through the end of 2021 (The most recently available data from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey).

We also limited the analysis to the 305 cities in America over 100,000 people — you know, because cities are big.

We looked at the percentage change in the population from 2010 until 2021 for each city using the classic formula:

((B – A) / A) * 100

We then ranked each city from largest change to smallest change. Frisco, the fastest growing city, had a 82.6% increase in population. Detroit actually had a population loss of 82.62%, good for the worst in America. I guess it just didn’t want to break double digits. You can download the data here.

Here’s a look at the top ten fastest growing major cities in America for 2023.

Summary: The Fastest Growing Big Cities in the United States

After measuring the populations of every major city in America for both now and 2010, we are left with Frisco as the fastest growing city in the US.

My plan now? Go buy a home in a small city ranked like 20-30. I’m sure they are going to be getting much more popular in the years to come.

And for those playing at home, here’s a look at the slowest growing cities in America:

  1. Detroit
  2. Jackson
  3. Cleveland

For more reading, check out:

Fastest Growing Big Cities In The US For 2023

Rank City % Change Population Population 2010
1 Frisco, TX 82.6% 188,387 103,158
2 Mckinney, TX 61.1% 191,197 118,652
3 Meridian, ID 56.3% 107,787 68,953
4 Sugar Land, TX 55.8% 118,563 76,080
5 Pearland, TX 52.0% 125,817 82,748
6 Kent, WA 45.4% 130,038 89,446
7 Round Rock, TX 38.4% 128,812 93,092
8 Murfreesboro, TN 38.1% 141,704 102,602
9 League City, TX 37.3% 105,410 76,764
10 Irvine, CA 37.0% 272,694 199,117
11 Surprise, AZ 34.0% 139,007 103,767
12 Allen, TX 33.7% 104,040 77,843
13 Cary, NC 32.6% 169,177 127,587
14 New Orleans, LA 32.5% 391,249 295,285
15 Midland, TX 31.3% 141,194 107,559
16 College Station, TX 30.8% 115,802 88,541
17 Thornton, CO 28.3% 144,186 112,374
18 Denton, TX 28.0% 139,734 109,192
19 Gilbert, AZ 27.3% 248,349 195,046
20 Cape Coral, FL 26.6% 189,633 149,787
21 Fort Worth, TX 26.5% 892,221 705,349
22 Austin, TX 26.4% 965,872 764,129
23 Port St. Lucie, FL 26.3% 195,773 155,004
24 Odessa, TX 25.6% 122,630 97,666
25 Durham, NC 25.4% 276,341 220,324
26 Seattle, WA 24.5% 741,251 595,240
27 Henderson, NV 24.4% 309,955 249,250
28 Denver, CO 23.8% 715,878 578,087
29 Killeen, TX 23.8% 148,573 120,052
30 Charlotte, NC 23.8% 873,570 705,896
31 Clarksville, TN 23.7% 156,092 126,148
32 Clovis, CA 23.6% 112,663 91,166
33 Miramar, FL 23.5% 140,479 113,707
34 Santa Clarita, CA 23.4% 212,519 172,253
35 Elk Grove, CA 22.8% 173,370 141,200
36 Raleigh, NC 22.7% 469,698 382,729
37 Hillsboro, OR 22.6% 108,026 88,125
38 Bellevue, WA 22.3% 146,145 119,454
39 Roseville, CA 22.0% 138,860 113,820
40 Orlando, FL 21.9% 284,817 233,707
41 Richardson, TX 21.6% 118,583 97,507
42 Sioux Falls, SD 21.6% 180,927 148,848
43 North Las Vegas, NV 21.2% 247,248 203,951
44 Aurora, CO 20.8% 379,434 314,092
45 Fargo, ND 20.5% 123,550 102,527
46 North Charleston, SC 20.5% 113,880 94,524
47 Atlanta, GA 20.4% 497,642 413,462
48 Washington, DC 20.1% 701,974 584,400
49 Murrieta, CA 19.2% 114,066 95,668
50 Sandy Springs, GA 19.1% 108,180 90,826
51 Tampa, FL 18.8% 395,912 333,327
52 Fort Collins, CO 18.6% 166,069 140,082
53 San Antonio, TX 18.5% 1,529,133 1,290,196
54 Alexandria, VA 18.5% 158,309 133,647
55 Temecula, CA 18.0% 113,117 95,829
56 Renton, WA 17.9% 101,871 86,372
57 Greeley, CO 17.9% 107,445 91,115
58 Sparks, NV 17.9% 102,895 87,301
59 Charleston, SC 17.8% 137,041 116,347
60 Miami, FL 17.8% 461,080 391,458
61 Omaha, NE 17.7% 479,529 407,334
62 Columbia, MO 17.2% 122,659 104,620
63 Chula Vista, CA 17.1% 268,779 229,614
64 Grand Prairie, TX 16.9% 193,835 165,776
65 West Jordan, UT 16.8% 115,181 98,622
66 Colorado Springs, CO 16.8% 471,686 403,983
67 Tempe, AZ 16.7% 191,607 164,147
68 Carrollton, TX 16.7% 137,319 117,712
69 Wilmington, NC 16.6% 122,162 104,730
70 Scottsdale, AZ 16.6% 254,995 218,770
71 Davie, FL 16.5% 105,594 90,648
72 Lewisville, TX 15.9% 107,740 92,939
73 Mesa, AZ 15.8% 508,918 439,639
74 Peoria, AZ 15.7% 172,109 148,702
75 Lubbock, TX 15.6% 257,013 222,272
76 Columbus, OH 15.4% 889,079 770,407
77 Oklahoma City, OK 15.3% 649,821 563,571
78 Olathe, KS 15.3% 139,216 120,774
79 Laredo, TX 15.2% 260,571 226,229
80 Broken Arrow, OK 14.9% 108,875 94,755
81 Tuscaloosa, AL 14.8% 100,633 87,663
82 Portland, OR 14.8% 650,380 566,686
83 Carlsbad, CA 14.7% 114,411 99,753
84 Arvada, CO 14.6% 120,229 104,885
85 Norman, OK 14.6% 124,086 108,265
86 Irving, TX 14.5% 240,475 210,025
87 Bakersfield, CA 14.5% 379,879 331,868
88 Boston, MA 14.4% 689,326 602,609
89 Phoenix, AZ 14.4% 1,658,422 1,450,206
90 Lakeland, FL 14.2% 110,335 96,623
91 Vancouver, WA 14.1% 182,792 160,202
92 Huntsville, AL 13.9% 199,845 175,416
93 Cambridge, MA 13.8% 117,822 103,506
94 Victorville, CA 13.8% 122,958 108,088
95 Richmond, VA 13.6% 229,233 201,828
96 Reno, NV 13.5% 250,903 220,996
97 Mcallen, TX 13.5% 142,557 125,590
98 West Palm Beach, FL 13.5% 111,006 97,798
99 Nashville, TN 13.5% 667,070 587,790
100 Overland Park, KS 13.4% 193,412 170,515

Fastest Growing Places By State

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.