Nation’s Fastest-Growing Large Counties are Mostly in Texas and Florida

Among the nation’s largest counties, a handful – mostly in Texas and Florida – experienced substantial population growth in 2024. Recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that the population of the nation’s largest counties – the 621 counties with more than 100,000 residents – had an average population increase of 1.1% from July 2023 to July 2024. However, Texas and Florida counties primarily flooded the leaderboard. Out of the 12 large counties recording annual population growth of 4% or more, 11 were in the South region. Six were in Texas and four were in Florida. The Dallas/Fort Worth (D/FW) metropolitan statistical area (MSA) was well represented with four of the nation’s fastest-growing large counties. Kaufman County took the lead nationally at 6% growth. Other fast-growing large counties in D/FW included Hunt (#7 at 4.4%), plus Ellis and Rockwall (both at #9 tying with Lake in the Orlando MSA at 4.1%). The Houston MSA had two fast-growing large counties, Liberty (#3 at 5.4%) and Montgomery (#4 at 4.8%). The Orlando MSA also had two fast-growing counties, Osceola (#5 at 4.7%) and Lake (#9 tying with Ellis and Rockwall in the D/FW MSA at 4.1%).  Two other counties in Florida ranked among nation’s fastest-growing large counties. St. Johns in the Jacksonville MSA ranked #8 with a population increase of 4.2% and Marion in the Ocala area ranked #12 with its population rising 4%. Outside of Texas and Florida, North Carolina’s Brunswick was the nation’s sixth fastest-growing large county, with its population increasing 4.5% from 2023 to 2024. The only county in the top 12 outside of the South region was Pinal County in Arizona, part of the Phoenix MSA. That county placed #2 on this list, with its population rising 5.6%.