Where the people are

Immigrati0n, affordability and access to good jobs are fueling population growth in places one might not necessarily expect.

Why it matters: The data from the U.S. Census Bureau, released this month, will be used for congressional redistricting.

• And the rapid expansion of these exurbs hints at what America might look like down the road — less white, less urban and more culturally diverse.

Where it stands: Formerly sleepy places are being reshaped by rapidly swelling populations, influencing everything from politics and development to the local employment and retail scenes.

• New Braunfels, Texas — between San Antonio and Austin — "grew a whopping 56 percent over the last decade" and its expansion "is the story of a changing America," per The New York Times.
• "With many new arrivals coming from big cities across Texas and states like California, Colorado and New York, the town also become more diverse," the Times said. "The Anglo population has dipped below 60 percent for the first time in recent decades, with Latinos accounting for about 35 percent of residents."
• Irvine — the only place in California to make the cut — grew 45% between 2010 and 2020, to 307,670 people, according to LAist. "Much of the growth was fueled by incoming Asian American and immigrant residents, estimated at more than 40% of the city."

The bottom line: "All 10 of the fastest-growing cities grew by at least 44 percent, and the fastest-growing one, Buckeye, Arizona, a western suburb of Phoenix, was up nearly 80 percent this decade to reach over 91,000 in population," the U.S. Census Bureau tweeted.

Go deeper: A shake-up in the ranks of powerhouse cities