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For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 16, 2024

Population Rebounds for Many Cities in Northeast and Midwest

Press Release Number CB24-81

South Continues to Lead the Way With Largest and Fastest Growth

MAY 16, 2024 — Large cities in the Northeast and Midwest grew in 2023, reversing earlier population declines, according to Vintage 2023 Population Estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cities with populations of 50,000 or more grew by an average of 0.2% in the Northeast and 0.1% in the Midwest after declining an average of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2022. Those in the West went up by an average of 0.2% from 2022 to 2023. Cities in the South grew the fastest – by an average 1.0%.

“The population growth across the South in 2023 was driven by significant numeric and percentage gains among its cities,” said Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “Thirteen of the 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South, with eight in Texas alone.”

Topping the list of fastest-growing cities with a population of 20,000 or more: Celina, Texas, (near Dallas), whose population grew by 26.6%, more than 53 times that of the nation’s growth rate of 0.5%.

Meanwhile, San Antonio, Texas, added more people (roughly 22,000) than any other city in 2023, reclaiming its No. 1 spot on the list of gainers and pushing it close to the 1.5 million population milestone.

Amid these notable examples of growth in the South, other fast-growing cities saw their rates of population change slow. For example, population growth in Georgetown, Texas, slowed by more than one-fourth its population growth in 2022, from 14.4% to 10.6%. The same can be said for Kyle, Texas, whose population growth decreased by nearly 2.0% to 9.0% in 2023. 

 

 

Population Change in Small Towns and Regional Differences

While 39% of the country’s population lived in cities of 50,000 or more, the United States remained a nation of mostly smaller communities. Of approximately 19,500 incorporated places, about 75% had fewer than 5,000 people in 2023 and nearly 33% had fewer than 500.

On average, these small towns experienced uneven population change across the U.S. regions. In particular, small towns in the Midwest and Northeast experienced lower rates of decline in 2023, decreasing by an average of 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, compared to 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2022.

Meanwhile, small towns in the West grew on average by 0.3% in 2023, a slower pace than its 0.5% growth rate in 2022. In contrast, small towns in the South grew by an average 0.6% in 2023, one-and-a-half times faster than the 0.4% growth in 2022.

Most Populous Cities

The 15 largest cities in 2023 remained the same as in 2022, with a few rank changes – Jacksonville, Florida, surpassed Austin, Texas, while Fort Worth, Texas, surpassed San Jose, California.

New York, New York, remained the nation’s largest city as of July 1, 2023, with almost 8.3 million people, followed by Los Angeles, California, which reached nearly 4 million people.

Other most populous cities in 2023 were:

  • Chicago, Illinois (2.7 million).
  • Houston, Texas (2.3 million).
  • Phoenix, Arizona (1.7 million).
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.6 million).
  • San Antonio (1.5 million).
  • San Diego, California (1.4 million).
  • Dallas (1.3 million).
  • Jacksonville, Florida (986,000).
  • Austin (980,000).
  • Fort Worth, Texas (978,000).
  • San Jose (970,000).
  • Columbus, Ohio (913,000).
  • Charlotte, North Carolina (911,000).

Discover population changes in large cities and minor civil divisions with “How Is Population Shifting in Your State?”.

Other Highlights

Crossing population milestones:

  • Four cities crossed the 100,000-population mark in 2023:
    • Yuma, Arizona (100,858).
    • Fayetteville, Arkansas (101,680).
    • Palm Coast, Florida (102,113).
    • Suffolk, Virginia (100,659).
  • Five places joined the list of cities with populations of 50,000 or more in 2023:
    • Prescott Valley, Arizona (50,045).
    • Everett, Massachusetts (50,318).
    • Gallatin, Tennessee (50,355).
    • Saratoga Springs, Utah (52,532).
    • Bothell, Washington (50,213).
  • Twenty-one places in 11 states crossed the 20,000-population threshold in 2023.

Modest Housing Unit Growth in Nearly All States

The nation’s housing stock grew by about 1.6 million units between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, reaching a total of 145.3 million. The 1.1% increase was nearly the same as the 1.2% increase between 2021 and 2022. 

  • California had the largest number of housing units (14.8 million), followed by Texas (12.4 million) and Florida (10.5 million), while Wyoming (280,000) and Alaska (330,000) had the fewest housing units.
  • Utah experienced the nation’s fastest growth in housing units, with an increase of 2.5% between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, followed by Idaho (2.3%) and South Dakota (2.2%).
  • Alaska (0.1%), Rhode Island (0.2%) and Illinois (0.2%) had the slowest rates of housing growth.
  • The largest numeric gains in housing units between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023:
    • Harris County, Texas (36,000).
    • Maricopa County, Arizona (36,000).
    • Los Angeles County, California (29,000).
    • Travis County, Texas (24,000).
    • Collin County, Texas (18,000).
  • Falls Church, Virginia, was the fastest-growing county; its housing stock increased by 13.5% between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, followed by Rich County, Utah (8.5%), and Jasper County, South Carolina (7.1%). Wasatch County, Utah, and Billings County, North Dakota, were tied for fourth place with 6.1%.
  • Sharkey County, Mississippi, had the largest percentage decrease in housing units between 2022 and 2023 at 10.0%, followed by Breathitt County, Kentucky, at 1.9% and Cross County, Arkansas, with 1.4%.

The complete list of counties is available in "A Snapshot of the Nation’s Housing Stock". 

Table 1. The 15 Fastest-Growing Cities Between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, With Populations of 20,000 or More as of July 1, 2022
Rank Area Name State % Increase 2023 Total Population
1 Celina city Texas 26.6  43,317
2 Fulshear city Texas 25.6  42,616
3 Princeton city Texas 22.3  28,027
4 Anna city Texas 16.9  27,501
5 Lathrop city California 13.6  39,857
6 Centerton city Arkansas 11.2  23,953
7 Haines city Florida 10.8  37,272
8 Georgetown city Texas 10.6  96,312
9 Prosper town Texas 10.5  41,660
10 Forney city Texas 10.4  35,470
11 Kyle city Texas 9.0  62,548
12 Lebanon city Tennessee 8.9  48,112
13 Fort Mill town South Carolina 8.8  33,626
14 Leesburg city Florida 8.7  31,721
15 Athens city Ohio 8.6 24,673

 

 

Table 2. The 15 Cities With the Largest Numeric Increases Between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, With Populations of 20,000 or More as of July 1, 2022
Rank Area Name State Numeric Increase 2023 Total Population
1 San Antonio city Texas 21,970 1,495,295
2 Fort Worth city Texas 21,365 978,468
3 Charlotte city North Carolina 15,607 911,311
4 Jacksonville city Florida 14,066 985,843
5 Port St. Lucie city Florida 13,169 245,021
6 Atlanta city Georgia 12,052 510,823
7 Houston city Texas 11,669 2,314,157
8 Georgetown city Texas 9,250 96,312
9 Celina city Texas 9,110 43,317
10 Raleigh city North Carolina 8,872 482,295
11 Fulshear city Texas 8,678 42,616
12 Washington city District of Columbia 8,023 678,972
13 Denton city Texas 7,914 158,349
14 Oklahoma City Oklahoma 7,589 702,767
15 Cape Coral city Florida 7,540 224,455

 

 

Table 3. The 15 Most Populous Cities on July 1, 2023
Rank Area Name State 2023 Total Population
1 New York city New York  8,258,035
2 Los Angeles city California  3,820,914
3 Chicago city Illinois  2,664,452
4 Houston city Texas  2,314,157
5 Phoenix city Arizona  1,650,070
6 Philadelphia city Pennsylvania  1,550,542
7 San Antonio city Texas  1,495,295
8 San Diego city California  1,388,320
9 Dallas city Texas  1,302,868
10 Jacksonville city Florida  985,843
11 Austin city Texas  979,882
12 Fort Worth city Texas  978,468
13 San Jose city California  969,655
14 Columbus city Ohio  913,175
15 Charlotte city North Carolina  911,311

 

 

Table 4. Total Population Living in Cities and Towns by Population Size as of July 1, 2023
Population Size Number of Cities and Towns Total Population
Under 5,000 14,651 16,320,333
5,000 to 9,999 1,654 11,817,308
10,000 to 49,999 2,378 52,387,469
50,000 and Over 801 130,160,093

 

 

Table 5. Population Change Between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, by Population Size as of July 1, 2022
Population Under 5,000
Region Number of Cities Average Numeric Change Average % Change
(1) Northeast  1,423 -3 -0.3
(2) Midwest  6,964 1 -0.1
(3) South  4,944 11 0.6
(4) West  1,327 4 0.3
Population of 5,000 to 9,999
Region Number of Cities Average Numeric Change Average % Change
(1) Northeast  297 -1 0
(2) Midwest  541 25 0.4
(3) South  591 95 1.3
(4) West  229 33 0.4
Population of 10,000 to 49,999
Region Number of Cities Average Numeric Change Average % Change
(1) Northeast  301 21 -0.1
(2) Midwest  805 55 0.3
(3) South  798 341 1.5
(4) West  467 102 0.4
Population of 50,000 or More
Region Number of Cities Average Numeric Change Average % Change
(1) Northeast  82 -978 0.2
(2) Midwest  164 115 0.1
(3) South  255 1,491 1
(4) West  296 265 0.2

 

 

Technical Notes

The statistics released today cover all local functioning governmental units, including incorporated places (such as 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). The Census Bureau develops city and town population estimates by using updated housing unit estimates to distribute county household population to subcounty areas based on the average household population per housing unit. An estimate of the population in group quarters is added to that to obtain the total resident population. The Vintage 2023 methodology statement and release notes are available at <www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/methodology.html>.   

This release includes some updates from the 2020 Census Count Question Resolution Operation (CQR) and 2020 Post-Census Group Quarters Review Program (PCGQR), which have been incorporated into the April 1, 2020, estimates base. CQR errata tables with original and corrected housing and population counts are available on the 2020 Decennial Census Notes and Errata webpage. All updates from the 2020 PCGQR are expected to be incorporated by the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates to be released starting December 2024. The full release schedule for the Population Estimates Program can be found on the Census Bureau’s website.

In June, the Census Bureau is scheduled to release estimates of the July 1, 2023, population by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin for the nation, states, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, and counties, and population by age and sex for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico municipios. The data will be embargoed.

With each new release of annual estimates, the entire time series of estimates is revised for all years back to the date of the last decennial census. All previously published estimates (e.g., old vintages) are superseded and archived on the FTP2 site.  

###

Contact


Kristina Barrett
Public Information Office
301-763-3030 or
877-861-2010 (U.S. and Canada only)
[email protected]

Page Last Revised - May 16, 2024
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