Princeton Emerges as Fastest-Growing City in U.S. According to New Census Data

Princeton, Texas, has been leading the charge, with the highest percentage of growth. Princeton is an outlier, as the only first-class city in the country that has grown this quickly. Its population has increased by a third since this time last year, the highest percentage growth rate of any city in the country. This wave is one of the many factors that have made the city’s population double since just 2020.

Princeton was home to some truly impressive percentage growth. At the same time, New York City ranked first in numeric population growth, adding more than 87,184 new residents in that period. This growth speaks to New York City’s resilience and relentless draw even in the face of national headwinds. Further back, Los Angeles raced up with a gain of 31,000 people. This increase restored its ranking as one of the 10 largest cities for population growth since 2016, catapulting it to 3rd place for numeric gain in 2024.

Further, the Census Bureau’s findings confirm a broader national trend in which cities are experiencing accelerating population growth. Particularly, places that previously may have been written off as dying are seeing dramatic reversals. Houston, Texas took the second spot for overall population growth, further highlighting Texas’s dominance in the growing trend of urban sprawl.

Perhaps the most surprising news is that one of the biggest turnarounds came in the Northeast region. 2023 wasn’t a good year for most cities. In 2024, they recovered with vigorous rates of growth, from 0.1% in small towns to 1% in large municipalities. Crystal Delbé from the Census Bureau noted, “Many population growth rates reversed or saw major changes between 2023 and 2024.” She added that “in fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same.

This new data paints a stark picture of the changing demographic landscape in communities across the country. Princeton’s explosive development and New York City’s soaring comeback performance are testaments to the fluidity of urban rise and decline, and the fickleness of American migration. As cities learn to navigate a fast-changing economic landscape and new lifestyle preferences these trends will continue to be in-flux.