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North Texas cities top Census list of growing boom towns

A water tower with "Forney" written across it is in the foreground with the city of Forney seen in the background in this aerial photo
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The city of Forney is among the fastest growing cities in the country, according to a new Census report.

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that eight of the 15 fastest growing cities in the country are in Texas — and five of those boom towns are in North Texas.

The Census Bureau’s latest "Vintage 2023 Subcounty population estimates" report looks at population growth rates by geography between 2022 and 2023. The city of Celina, about an hour north of Dallas, tops the list of fastest growing cities with a population of 20,000 or more. Its population grew by more than 26 percent. That's 53 times more than the nation's growth rate of 0.5 percent.

Lloyd Potter with the Texas Demographic Center told KERA that one of the primary drivers of the growth is jobs.

“Where you see rapid growth, like what we're seeing in Celina and some of the other cities around there, is really being driven by employment opportunities," Potter said.

Other North Texas cities on the list include Princeton, Anna, Prosper and Forney. All of them are "outer ring" suburbs that Potter said reflect growth trends across the state.

"People, especially as they age up into the family formation stage, start looking for housing that has more space in it, like a yard," Potter said in an earlier interview. "That certainly is a factor that was influencing people deciding to move into counties like Kaufman, Rockwall, Parker and Johnson [counties]."

Another metric in the report looks at the largest gains in population by city. San Antonio tops that list: It gained 21,970 residents. Fort Worth followed, adding 21,365 people between 2022 and 2023. Celina and Denton were also on the list.

Crystal Delbé, a statistician at the Census Bureau's population division, said it's part of a regional trend. Thirteen of the fastest growing cities in the country are in the South.

“The population growth across the South in 2023 was driven by significant numeric and percentage gains among its cities,” Delbé said in a statement.

Potter at the Demographic Center said Texas is growing by about 1,300 people per day, mostly from net migration. He said that rapid growth isn't expected to slow anytime soon.

"If you look at the last decade and a half, Texas is kind of on this continuing economic growth," Potter said. "I don't see anything, other than the unseen, but if we can keep growing based on historic trends, we're likely to continue to be growing."

Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org. You can follow him on X @pabloaarauz.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

Pablo Arauz Peña is the Growth and Infrastructure Reporter for KERA News.