The Census Bureau has released a new report revealing changing population numbers across the United States. As indicated by the report, Houston is presently on track to overtake Chicago as the third largest city in the United States.
In the report, entitled South Continues to Lead the Way With Largest and Fastest Growth, the U.S. Census Bureau reveals fluctuating population trends across the country. Their findings illustrate how many of the largest and fastest growing cities in the country are in Texas.
“The population growth across the South in 2023 was driven by significant numeric and percentage gains among its cities,” said statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, Crystal Delbé.
According to the report, the top four fastest growing cities between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, are Celina, Fulshear, Princeton, and Anna – all in Texas. Georgetown, Prosper, Forney, and Kyle, Texas, are also in the top 15 fastest-growing cities.
Furthermore, the top two largest-gaining cities are San Antonio and Fort Worth in Texas. Five other Texas cities are among the largest-gaining cities in the country including Houston, Georgetown, Celina, Fulshear, and Denton.
As stated in the report, Houston is presently the fourth largest city in the United States behind Chicago, Illinois. However, with Houston’s population on the rise, and Chicago’s in decline, Houston could soon overtake Chicago in terms of population.
This is the tenth consecutive year that Chicago has experienced a population decline. From July 2022 to July 2023, the Windy City’s population dropped from 2,672,660 to 2,664,452 at a percentage decline of .3%. This was the third-largest decline of any US city. New York City and Philadelphia experienced the two largest population declines.
Houston, meanwhile, experienced a population increase of 11,669 rising from 2,302,488 to 2,314,157 at a percentage of .5%.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute, Houston will overtake Chicago as the third-largest US city in 2035 “if population trends hold”.
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