The 15 Fastest-Growing Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas (10/22 to 10/23)

It’s that time of year when SiteSeer releases its semi-annual population study to look at the 15 metro and micro areas in the country that are growing the fastest. This study looks at population change (as a percentage) in between October 2022 and October 2023.

If you’ve followed along for a while, you know that we’ve been releasing these studies for several years. However, only our most recent study (comparing April 2022 to April 2023) uses recently released U.S. Census 2020 base population and boundaries. (All prior iterations used 2010 Census data.)

The Definition of Metropolitan vs. Micropolitan Areas

As of July 2023, there are 387 metropolitan statistical areas and 538 micropolitan statistical areas in the United States.

And here are important definitions from the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB):

• Micropolitan areas are those with an urban area of at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 people.
• Metropolitan areas have at least one urban area with a population of 50,000 or higher.

Top 15 Fast-growing Metropolitan Areas

A quick note for our longtime readers of these studies. The below percentages are rounded to the nearest hundredth (e.g. 2.46%), but if two cities appear to be tied (like St. George and Ocala below), rather than list them as tied as we've done in the past, we've chosen to stick to the true top 15 going forward. 

Here's the 15 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. between October 2022 and October 2023:

#15: Lake Charles, Louisiana | 2.59%

#14: Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, South Carolina | 2.63%

#13: Panama City, Florida | 2.73% (#4 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#12: Hinesville, Georgia | 2.75% ¹  (#13 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023) 

#11: Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama | 2.75% ² (#10 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#10: Greeley, Colorado | 2.78% (#8 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#9: Spartanburg, South Carolina | 2.84% (#11 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#8: Ocala, Florida | 2.95% ³ 

#7: St. George, Utah | 2.95% ⁴ (#6 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#6: North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida | 3.04% (#9 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#5: Punta Gorda, Florida | 3.55% (#3 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#4: Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida | 3.61% (#5 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#3: Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida | 3.88% (#2 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#2: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina/North Carolina | 3.95% (#2 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#1: The Villages, Florida | 7.12% (#1 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

1 Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama 2.753%

 ² Hinesville, Georgia 2.747%

³ Ocala, Florida 2.947%

⁴ St. George, Utah 2.948%

A few observations about metropolitan area growth (and loss):

• Six of the top 10 fastest-growing metro areas during this period are in Florida. There could be a few contributors to this, but it’s safe to assume that retirees continue to flock there for its warmer climate and favorable tax policies. The Villages, a master-planned 55+ community, is incredibly popular, as evidenced by its continued growth rate.
• All but one metro area (Greeley, Colorado) in the top 15 are in the southern United States. Some research attributes this mass migration largely to better year-round weather and more affordable housing and living.
• There are several metro areas that appeared in the top 15 on the April 2022-April 2023 iteration of this population study as well.
• They’re not shown here, but the five metro areas with the biggest % decrease from October 2022 to October 2023 were Decatur, Illinois (-1.57%), Yauco, Puerto Rico (-1.41%), Elmira, New York (-1.34%), Walla Walla, Washington (-1.31%), and Ocean City, New Jersey (-1.27%).

Top 15 Fast-growing Micropolitan Areas

And now a look at the 15 fastest-growing micropolitan areas in the U.S. between October 2022 and October 2023:

#15: Spirit Lake, Iowa | 1.91%

#14: Kalispell, Montana | 1.92%

#13: Granbury, Texas | 2.01% (#5 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#12: Lewisburg, Tennessee | 2.03% (#7 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#11: Lake City, Florida | 2.12% ¹

#10: St. Marys, Georgia | 2.12% ² (#9 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#9: Rockport, Texas | 2.16%

#8: Durant, Oklahoma | 2.25% (#13 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#7: Clewiston, Florida | 2.41% (#6 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#6: Prineville, Oregon | 2.47% (#8 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#5: Statesboro, Georgia | 2.58% (#3 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#4: Cedar City, Utah | 2.83% (#2 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

#3: Steamboat Springs, Colorado | 3.67%

#2: Hailey, Idaho | 3.91%

#1: Jefferson, Georgia | 4.35% (#1 fastest growing April 2022-April 2023)

1 Lake City, Florida 2.117%

 ² St. Marys, Georgia 2.118%

A few observations about micropolitan area growth (and loss):

• There is a lot of geographic diversity in the top 15: in fact, only two states have more than one micro area: Florida and Georgia.
• There are several popular “Zoom towns” on the list, where remote workers have flocked to take advantage of great weather, natural beauty, and sometimes, lower cost of living. Examples include Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Panama City, Florida, Kalispell, Montana, and Hailey, Idaho.
• As with the metro areas, there are several micro areas that appeared on the April 2022-April 2023 iteration of this population study as well.

This semi-annual population data comes from STI: PopStats. Look for our next study sometime in August 2024.

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