The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In The United States For 2026

The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In America For 2026

1. Mobile, AL

2. New Braunfels, TX

3. Conroe, TX

4. Port St. Lucie, FL

5. Goodyear, AZ

6. Cape Coral, FL

7. Frisco, TX

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, 112.59% growth in a 14 year period comes out to a 5.89% compound annual growth rate. That’s about 8x faster than the US as a whole.

8. Meridian, ID

For Idaho, Meridian counts as a major metropolis. With 130138.0 residents, it ranks among the state’s biggest cities. As it turns out, it also represents a boom town, with its population climbing 88.73% 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.

9. Mckinney, TX

There’s a pretty big drop between the 2nd and 3rd fastest growing cities as McKinney has ‘only’ had a 77.49% growth. That’s still good for 6.5x the American average.

10. Denton, TX

Next 10 Cities

Methodology: How We Determined The Fastest Growing Cities in The US for 2026

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 used Saturday Night Science to study option two for this analysis — how much have these cities grown since 2023 through the end of 2024, the most recently available data from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey.

We also limited the analysis to the 325 biggest cities in the US with over 100,000 people.

We looked at the percentage change in the population from 2023 until 2024 for each city using the classic formula:

((B – A) / A) * 100

We then ranked each city from largest change to smallest change. Mobile, the fastest growing city, had a 9.9% increase in population. Jackson actually had a population loss of 9.897%, good for the slowest in America.

We updated this article for 2026. This article is our eleventh time ranking the fastest-growing cities in America.

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 Mobile as the fastest-growing city in the US.

The cities in the United States with the largest single-year change in population are Mobile, AL, New Braunfels, TX, Conroe, TX, Port St. Lucie, FL, Goodyear, AZ, Cape Coral, FL, Frisco, TX, Meridian, ID, Mckinney, TX, and Denton, TX.

My plan now? Buy a home in a small city ranked like 20-30. They will 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. Jackson
2. Memphis
3. St. Louis

For more reading, check out:

• Most Dangerous States In America
• Richest States In America

Fastest Growing Big Cities In The US For 2026