Tampa among the fastest growing cities in America
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Tampa is one of America's fastest-growing major cities, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
Why it matters: Late-pandemic shifts in where Americans live are still shaking out — with big implications for cities seeing massive growth or rapid decline.
By the numbers: Among cities with at least a quarter million residents, Tampa is the 11th fastest growing. Its population rose by 1.27% between 2022 and 2023 to 403,364 residents.
- Orlando (#7) grew by 1.55% to 320,742 residents, Jacksonville (#9) grew by 1.45% with 985,843 residents and Miami (#10) grew by 1.31% to 455,924 residents.
Fun fact: Among smaller cities, Haines City in Polk County was the seventh fastest growing. The enclave about 25 miles east of Lakeland saw a 10.8% rise to 37,272 people, per Census data.
Losers: New Orleans (shrank -1.56%, to 364,136 residents), St. Louis (-1.55%, to 281,754 residents) and Philadelphia (-1.04%, to 1,550,542 residents).
The big picture: Southern cities dominate the list of the fastest-growing big metros, with Florida and Texas alone accounting for eight of the top 20.
- That reflects a continued trend of Americans flocking to parts of the country that face some of the greatest climate risks.
Between the lines: Some of the fastest-growing places are not cities themselves, but their outer suburbs, or "exurbs."
- "Fewer of the fastest-growing places between 2022 and 2023 were inner suburbs than in 2019 ... and more were on the far outskirts of metro areas — 30, 40 and even more than 60 miles away from the largest city's downtown," according to a Census Bureau analysis.