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