With the Census Bureau reporting that the South held 8 of the 15 cities with the largest population gains in 2017, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2018’s Fastest-Growing Cities in America as well as accompanying videos.
To determine where the most rapid local economic growth occurred over a period of seven years, WalletHub compared 515 U.S. cities across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from population growth to college-educated population growth to unemployment rate decrease. In addition, we produced a separate ranking by city size.
| Fastest-Growing Cities in America | Slowest-Growing Cities in America | |||
| 1 | Fort Myers, FL | 506 | Columbia, MD | |
| 2 | Midland, TX | 507 | Springfield, IL | |
| 3 | Pearland, TX | 508 | Waterbury, CT | |
| 4 | Bend, OR | 509 | Montgomery, AL | |
| 5 | McKinney, TX | 510 | Cheektowaga, NY | |
| 6 | College Station, TX | 511 | Youngstown, OH | |
| 7 | Lehigh Acres, FL | 512 | Lawton, OK | |
| 8 | Mount Pleasant, SC | 513 | Erie, PA | |
| 9 | Enterprise, NV | 514 | Shreveport, LA | |
| 10 | Irvine, CA | 515 | Decatur, IL | |
Key Stats
- Frisco, Texas, experienced the highest population growth, at 6.52 percent. Conversely, Albany, Georgia experienced the highest population decrease, at 1.51 percent.
- San Marcos, California, experienced the highest household income increase, at 9.95 percent. Conversely, Shreveport, Louisiana, experienced the highest household income decrease, at 1.43 percent.
- Frisco, Texas, experienced the highest job growth, at 6.12 percent. Conversely, Peoria, Illinois, experienced the highest jobs decrease, at 1.27 percent.
- Lake Charles, Louisiana, experienced the highest decrease in poverty rate, at 2.32 percent. Conversely, Wilmington, Delaware, experienced the highest increase in poverty rate, at 1.28 percent.
- Milpitas, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose and Mountain View, California, experienced the highest growth in real GDP per capita, at 5.68 percent. Conversely, Lafayette, Louisiana, experienced the highest decrease in real GDP per capita, at 4.87 percent.
To view the full report and your city’s rank.
