Fastest-Growing Cities: Percentage Growth vs. Residents Added

Percentage growth gives smaller places more room to lead

The percentage calculation divides the change by the previous population. Adding 1,000 residents to 10,000 gives a 10% increase; adding 1,000 to 100,000 gives a 1% increase. This arithmetic example explains the effect of the starting size without making any claim about those hypothetical places’ housing or employment.

In the observed data, Fulshear, TX added 11,196 residents, while Houston, TX added 11,515. Their numerical gains are much closer than their percentage growth rates: 21.0% and 0.5%, respectively. Reading only the percentage would obscure the scale of the change.

The population cutoff changes the answer

Our comparison includes places with at least 20,000 residents at the end of the period. This makes the eligibility date explicit. A publication using 20,000 residents at the beginning can omit a place that crosses that threshold during the year. Neither table should be cited without its cutoff.

Raise the minimum population in the explorer to 100,000 or 500,000 and compare the leading rows again. You are changing the set of places, not recalculating their observed growth. This sensitivity check is useful when a mover wants a midsize or large city rather than every municipality in the country. The filter does not establish a city’s metropolitan size.

One revised Census series keeps the calculation consistent

Each PEP vintage revises the earlier estimates in its time series. We use the July 2024 and July 2025 observations from Vintage 2025, rather than subtracting a number from an older release. The population reference year is 2025; the source release was published in May 2026.

Census geographic guidance explains that a vintage uses updated boundaries for its series. An estimate can consequently differ from an older published number for the same year. Check a city’s history and the source vintage before concluding that the difference between two articles measures population change.

The table gives the signed numerical difference and percentage from the same source. Population decline remains negative, and a zero previous estimate would make percentage growth unavailable. Counts are not annual census enumerations: they are official estimates between censuses.

Growth is a starting point for housing research

A rising population can motivate questions about housing construction, rental availability, transportation and local services. The growth table cannot answer those questions by itself. It does not demonstrate that rents increased, identify why residents moved or count new homes built in the city.

Use the population history alongside the housing survey window. ACS 2020–2024 rent and home values describe an earlier pooled period than the July 2025 population estimate. For a rapidly changing place, those figures may be useful structural context while current listings and construction records provide another view.

The fastest-growing-city ranking documents eligibility and shows the national percentage order. The explorer here lets you switch between percentage growth, added residents and total population. Its CSV keeps both source years and the signed change, making the result reproducible without relying on a headline.