Census Data Shows Five Fastest-Growing U.S. Cities All Located in Texas

The city held the top spot for the second consecutive year. It was followed by Fulshear with 21.0 percent growth, Princeton at 18.1 percent, Melissa at 14.5 percent and Anna at 10.2 percent. None of the five cities exceeds 65,000 residents. These exurban communities reflect a broader shift in domestic migration toward areas with fewer restrictions on new housing construction.

Texas maintains no statewide caps on development and features shorter permitting timelines than states such as California, where multifamily projects take an average of 22 months longer to complete.

Texas relies on Municipal Utility Districts that allow developers to finance infrastructure upfront and recover costs through property taxes, accelerating rather than limiting expansion. Local governments in the state generally approve new housing when demand appears.

By contrast, California has historically combined environmental reviews, local opposition and higher construction costs to limit supply in desirable areas. The state has adjusted some rules recently but maintains longer approval processes. New York City lost 12,196 residents during the period, the largest numeric decline of any U.S. city.

Among cities with populations of 250,000 or more, average growth slowed from 0.9 percent to 0.3 percent. The Northeast saw its largest cities drop from 1.2 percent average growth to 0.2 percent. Four outer suburbs in the New York metro area still ranked among the 200 fastest-growing places nationally by percentage, with Port Chester recording a 4.1 percent increase.

Charlotte, North Carolina, added the most residents in absolute terms with a gain of 20,731 people. Yet within its own metro area it ranked only seventh in percentage growth among places with 20,000 or more residents. Fort Mill, South Carolina, 20 miles from downtown Charlotte, grew 6.8 percent.

The national housing stock expanded by 1.4 million units, or 1.0 percent, to 148.3 million in 2025. Idaho led states with 2.1 percent housing-unit growth, followed by Arizona at 2.0 percent and South Carolina at 1.9 percent. Washington, D.C., and New Jersey each grew by just 0.2 percent.

Existing-home sales reached 3.98 million units in March 2026 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, the slowest March since 2009. Full-year 2025 sales totaled 4.06 million units, the lowest annual total since 1995. The Federal Reserve's pandemic-era low mortgage rates created a lock-in effect that discourages owners from selling homes with rates near 3 percent to buy at current rates near 7 percent.

Austin crossed the one-million-resident threshold, reaching 1,002,632 people. The more significant growth occurred in surrounding communities where land remains available for construction at moderate prices. The Houston metro area added more people than any other in the country last year, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth.

Officials attribute both gains primarily to development in the outer rings rather than urban cores. A disproportionate share of new residents in places such as Celina are first-generation homeowners who view these communities as their preferred destination rather than a compromise.

“The Census Bureau just confirmed that time is long gone.”

The data indicate that middle-class household formation has become most viable in communities dozens of miles outside major Texas cities where housing supply responds to demand. Austin officially joined the ranks of U.S. cities with over 1 million residents in the past year.