Texas is Home to Most of Nation’s Fastest-Growing Cities

Texas was home to some of the nation’s fastest growing cities over the past several years.

The U.S. overall logged population growth of 2.6% from 2020 to 2024, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. But some cities, primarily in Texas, logged significantly more growth.

Among the 15 fastest-growing U.S. cities (with more than 20,000 residents as of 2024), 12 were in Texas. In fact, more than half were in the Dallas apartment market alone.

Fulshear, a suburb west of Houston in the Rosenberg/Richmond submarket, was the fastest-growing city nationally and the only city in the Houston market to rank among the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities from 2020 to 2024.  Fulshear’s population grew from roughly 17,600 in 2020 to more than 54,600 residents in 2024, for a growth rate of 210.1%.

Cities within the Dallas market took the next six positions among the fastest-growing cities, with Celina taking the lead and ranking #2 nationally. Celina, north of Dallas within the Frisco submarket, nearly tripled in size, growing from roughly 17,800 residents in 2020 to nearly 51,700 people in 2024. Prosper, also in the Frisco submarket, landed in the #15 position among the fastest-growing cities from 2020 to 2024, with its population increasing 44.4% to reach just over 44,500 residents in 2024.

Three cities in Dallas’ Allen/McKinney submarket, which is due east of the Frisco submarket, ranked among the 15 fastest-growing cities nationally. Princeton was the third fastest-growing city nationally, with its population more than doubling, rising from nearly 17,600 people in 2020 to more than 37,000 residents in 2024. Melissa and Anna, ranking #5 and #6, respectively, saw their populations increase between 82% and 83% from 2020 to 2024.    

Dallas’ Rockwall/Rowlett/Wylie submarket, on the south side of the Allen/McKinney submarket, had two of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. Royse City ranked #4 with a growth rate of roughly 92%, while Fate ranked #12 with a population increase of 49.1%. Meanwhile, Forney in Kaufman County, bordering the Rockwall/Rowlett/Wylie submarket to the south, was the nation’s seventh fastest-growing city, with its population growing 61.3% from 2020 to 2024 to reach nearly 38,600 residents.

Turning to cities in the Austin apartment market, Manor in the East Austin submarket ranked #8 nationally, growing from nearly 14,100 residents in 2020 to 21,500 residents in 2024, translating to a growth rate of 52.6%. Two cities in the Round Rock/Georgetown submarket landed among the top 15 cities for population growth. Hutto grew its population 51.9%, ranking #9 nationally, while Georgetown ranked #13 with a 47.5% population gain.

Only three cities outside of Texas ranked among the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities from 2020 to 2024. Representing Florida was the city of Haines in the Lakeland-Winter Haven apartment market. Its population grew 50.5%, from 28,086 residents in 2020 to 42,661 people in 2024, with that growth rate ranking #10 nationally. In Utah, Saratoga Springs in the Orem/Lehi submarket, within the Provo-Orem-Lehi apartment market ranked #11, with population growing from 38,300 residents in 2020 to 57,411 residents in 2024, for a growth rate of 49.9%. The 14th fastest growth pace in the nation of 47.4% was the town of Amherst, north of Springfield, MA in the Springfield/Greenfield/Amherst Town apartment market.

It’s no surprise that most of the submarkets containing the fastest-growing cities have had some of the nation’s most prolific apartment development. Eight out of the 10 submarkets containing the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities landed among the top 25 submarkets for inventory growth from 2020 to 2024. With the exception of Orem/Lehi and Amherst/Hampshire County, all saw apartment inventories increase roughly 60% to 90% during that period, led by East Austin (87%), which ranked #3 out of the 997 submarkets nationally.

East Austin posted a 155% increase in apartment units in the 10-year period ending in 2024. However, the fastest-growing apartment submarket in the nation during that 10-year period was Frisco, which posted inventory growth of 238%, followed by Rockwall at 234%.