Austin's growth isn't quite as explosive as it used to be: The Texas Capital was just eclipsed by Fort Worth, which is now home to more than 1 million residents, and has taken Austin's place as the 11th largest city in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The new population report revealed Austin slipped two spots and now ranks as the 13th largest city. Austin added more than 13,000 residents from July 2023 to July 2024, bringing the city's population to 993,588.
Fort Worth had the fifth-highest numeric increase in population, adding 23,442 residents during that same time frame to bring the city's total population to 1,008,106 residents.
Houston and San Antonio were the only Texas cities to have higher numerical growth rates than Fort Worth during the one-year period. Houston gained 43,217 residents — the second-highest increase nationwide — while San Antonio ranked No. 4 in growth with an additional 23,945 residents.
Sandwiched between Fort Worth (No. 11) and Austin (No. 13) is San Jose, California, whose population of 997,368 puts it in the 12th-largest spot.
Fastest growing U.S. cities
Princeton, a North Texas suburb of Dallas, topped the charts as the No. 1 fastest-growing U.S. city in 2024. The Census Bureau says the city's population has more than doubled in the last five years to more than 37,000 residents.
The Austin suburb of Georgetown's growth has continued to slow down since 2023, and it no longer appears in the list of fastest-growing cities. However, it did surpass 100,000 residents in 2024.
Hutto, on the other hand, is now getting time in the spotlight as one of the fastest-growing cities. The city ranked 13th on the list with a 9.4 percent growth rate from 2023 to 2024, and now boasts nearly 42,700 residents.
Five additional Texas cities made the list of fastest-growing U.S. cities:
- Fulshear, near Houston (No. 2) with 26.7 percent growth (54,629 total population)
- Celina, near Dallas (No. 4) with 18.2 percent growth (51,661 total population)
- Anna, near Dallas (No. 5) with 14.6 percent growth (31,986 total population)
- Fate, near Dallas (No. 8) with 11.4 percent growth (27,467 total population)
- Melissa, near Dallas (No. 11) with 10 percent growth (26,194 total population)
San Angelo, a small city in West Texas, also surpassed the 100,000-population threshold.
Most populous U.S. cities in 2024
New York City maintained its stronghold as the biggest in America in 2024, boasting a population of nearly 8.5 million residents. Los Angeles and Chicago also retained second and third place, with respective populations of nearly 3.88 million and more than 2.7 million residents.
"Cities in the Northeast that had experienced population declines in 2023 are now experiencing significant population growth, on average," said Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "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."
The 15 populous U.S. cities as of July 1, 2024 were:
- No. 1 – New York, New York (8.48 million)
- No. 2 – Los Angeles, California (3.88 million)
- No. 3 – Chicago, Illinois (2.72 million)
- No. 4 – Houston, Texas (2.39 million)
- No. 5 – Phoenix, Arizona (1.67 million)
- No. 6 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.57 million)
- No. 7 – San Antonio, Texas (1.53 million)
- No. 8 – San Diego, California (1.4 million)
- No. 9 – Dallas, Texas (1.33 million)
- No. 10 – Jacksonville, Florida (1 million)
- No. 11 – Fort Worth, Texas (1 million)
- No. 12 – San Jose, California (997,368)
- No. 13 – Austin, Texas (993,588)
- No. 14 – Charlotte, North Carolina (943,476)
- No. 15 – Columbus, Ohio (933,263)
