The U.S. population grew just 0.5% between July 2024 and July 2025, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates, but that modest national figure masks a highly fragmented landscape. Growth is now sharply localized, with a handful of smaller Sun Belt metros expanding rapidly while traditional coastal giants stagnate or shrink, according to a RealPage analysis of the Census numbers.
Among the fastest-growing metros by percentage, Florida and the Carolinas dominate RealPage's leaderboard. Ocala, Florida, north of Orlando, led the nation with a 3.4% increase, followed by Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at 3.2%.
South Carolina's Spartanburg, Florida's Lakeland and Punta Gorda, Alabama's Huntsville and North Carolina's Wilmington also posted annual growth rates above 2.5%. The only non-South metro among the top 10 was St. George, Utah, at 2.5%, though its small population of roughly 214,000 limits its impact on national totals.
In absolute population gains, however, large Southern metros are still doing the heavy lifting. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands added roughly 126,700 residents, with Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington close behind at 123,600.
Atlanta gained about 61,953 residents, Phoenix 59,065, Charlotte 54,122 and Austin 53,796, with other Sun Belt hubs rounding out the top 10 for numeric increases. Outside the South, only Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue posted a significant bump, adding roughly 43,068 residents.
At the same time, growth has slowed or reversed in many smaller or previously high-momentum markets, underscoring just how uneven the national picture has become. The sharpest percentage-point declines occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border, including Laredo, Texas, which slowed from 3.2% to 0.2%, Yuma, Arizona, which cooled from 3.3% to 1.4% and El Centro, California, which dropped from 1.2% to -0.7%.
Even large metros like New York and Denver saw slower gains than in 2024, reflecting broader demographic shifts and a nationwide drop in net international migration, according to RealPage.
Among the nation's largest metros, the New York-Newark-Jersey City area remains the most populous at more than 20.1 million residents, but its growth rate was just 0.2%. By contrast, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach both posted population declines. Meanwhile, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Atlanta continue to surge, illustrating the gulf between a small cohort of large, fast-growing Southern hubs and a wider field of big markets that have effectively hit pause.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.