Datastream

Ranked: The Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S.

Published

2 years ago

August 24, 2021

Carmen Ang

The Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S.

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The Briefing

Five of the 20 fastest growing cities are in California
However, California’s population growth as a whole has become stagnant over the last few years
Between 2020-2025, the fastest growing U.S. city is expected to be The Woodlands, TX

Ranked: The Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S.

The world has become increasingly more urbanized, especially in America. Despite being one of the largest countries on the planet, over 80% of the U.S. population currently is concentrated in key metropolitan areas, and this urban concentration is only expected to increase in the coming years.

Which U.S. cities are leading this growth?

Here are the fastest growing urban areas in the U.S. with over 300,000 residents, based on their projected annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025.

Rank	City	State	Avg. Growth Rate ('20-'25p)
1	The Woodlands	Texas	4.76%
2	Temecula-Murrieta	California	3.66%
3	Concord	North Carolina	3.51%
4	Visalia	California	3.39%
5	Myrtle Beach	South Carolina	3.16%
6	Fayetteville-Springdale	Arkansas	3.04%
7	Kissimmee	Florida	2.95%
8	Charlotte	North Carolina	2.84%
9	Victorville-Hesperia-Apple Valley	California	2.82%
10	Raleigh	North Carolina	2.80%
11	Cape Coral	Florida	2.72%
12	Provo-Orem	Utah	2.66%
13	Santa Clarita	California	2.41%
14	Austin	Texas	2.39%
15	Lancaster-Palmdale	California	2.14%
16	Las Vegas	Nevada	2.11%
17	Lafayette	Louisiana	2.06%
18	Bonita Springs-Naples	Florida	1.99%
19	McAllen	Texas	1.96%
20	Port St. Lucie	Florida	1.94%

Coming in as America’s fastest growing city is The Woodlands, Texas. This Houston-adjacent community is projecting an extreme population increase, reflecting the rapid population growth of the state of Texas.

According to 2020 Census data, Texas is America’s third fastest growing state, with a population of over 29 million—that’s more than the entire population of Australia.

The second fastest growing city is Temecula-Murrieta, California, which lies in the center of the triangle formed by Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs. Despite the fact that five of the 20 fastest growing cities are in California, the Golden State’s overall population has been somewhat stagnant in recent years. In 2018, California’s population growth rate dipped to 0.47%—its slowest growth rate on record.

The Main Factors that Impact City Growth

What contributes to a city’s population growth? According to academic research conducted by Gilles Duranton and Diego Puga, there are several key drivers that impact urban growth:

Transportation and housing supply: Restrictions on housing supply, along with poor transportation options or limited roads, tend to hinder urban growth.
Amenities: This includes “natural” amenities, such as the weather—one of the most reliable predictors of city growth. Warmer temperatures in January and cooler temperatures in July are both strongly correlated with urban growth.
Agglomeration effects: An educated city is more likely to be an entrepreneurial city, which attracts new firms and helps foster growth for existing firms. As a result, its population naturally increases.

Duranton and Puga stress that municipal and city governments likely play a role in a city’s population growth too—however, more research on the topic is needed to confirm their hypothesis.

» Like this? Then check out the fastest-growing cities worldwide.

Where does this data come from?

Source: UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018
Details:: The growth rate is measured by an average annual rate of change of urban agglomeration, with 300,00 or more in 2018 (%).

Related Topics:texas fastest growing cities urbanization california top cities

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Central Banks

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 23, 2023

Marcus Lu

The Briefing

Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

Year	Fed chair	% Great deal or Fair amount
2023	Jerome Powell	36%
2022	Jerome Powell	43%
2021	Jerome Powell	55%
2020	Jerome Powell	58%
2019	Jerome Powell	50%
2018	Jerome Powell	45%
2017	Janet Yellen	45%
2016	Janet Yellen	38%
2015	Janet Yellen	42%
2014	Janet Yellen	37%
2013	Ben Bernanke	42%
2012	Ben Bernanke	39%
2011	Ben Bernanke	41%
2010	Ben Bernanke	44%
2009	Ben Bernanke	49%
2008	Ben Bernanke	47%
2007	Ben Bernanke	50%
2006	Ben Bernanke	41%
2005	Alan Greenspan	56%
2004	Alan Greenspan	61%
2003	Alan Greenspan	65%
2002	Alan Greenspan	69%
2001	Alan Greenspan	74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

Negative impact on the stock market
Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.