growth news
Dallas-Fort Worth was the 3rd fastest growing U.S. metro in 2024
Dallas County is now the 8th most populous U.S. county.
Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau has some stunning statistics for Dallas-Fort Worth including the fact that it was one of the top 5 fast-growing metro areas in the U.S.
There's more: Dallas County became the eighth most populous county in the U.S. in 2024, while nearby Collin and Tarrant Counties have the top 10 highest year-over-year growth rates from 2023.
The new population report estimated year-over-year population data from 2023 to 2024 across all 3,144 U.S. counties, and 387 metro areas.
According to the report, Dallas County's population surpassed 2.656 million residents in 2024, earning Dallas a spot among the top 10 most populous counties in the country. That's up from 2023 when Dallas County boasted 2.636 million residents.
Los Angeles County, California is the No. 1 most populous county nationwide with a population of nearly 9.76 million in 2024.
Harris County, which encompasses Houston, became the third most populous U.S. county in 2024. It saw the highest year-over-year growth rate from 2023.
The top 10 most populous counties in the U.S. are:
- No. 1 – Los Angles County, California
- No. 2 – Cook County, Illinois
- No. 3 – Harris County, Texas
- No. 4 – Maricopa County, Arizona
- No. 5 – San Diego County, California
- No. 6 – Orange County, California
- No. 7 – Miami-Dade County, Florida
- No. 8 – Dallas County, Texas
- No. 9 – Kings County, New York
- No. 10 – Riverside County, California
Collin County – comprised of popular Dallas suburbs like Plano, Frisco, McKInney, and Prosper – ranked No. 4 among the top 10 U.S. counties with the highest numeric growth rates. Collin gained 46,694 residents from 2023 to 2024, and the county's population has now staggered over 1.25 million residents.
Fort Worth's Tarrant County added 32,793 residents to its 2.23 million-plus population to round out the top 10 U.S. counties with the highest numerical growth rates in 2024.
In the report's national comparison of counties with the largest population growth by percentage, Kaufman County ranked No. 2 with a year-over-year growth rate of 6 percent. Kaufman County's population grew from 186,715 residents in 2023 to 197,829 in 2024.
Most populated U.S. metro areas
The U.S. Census Bureau additionally found Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington nearly led the nation as the third-fastest growing metro area in 2024.
From July 2023 to July 2024, the DFW metro added 177,922 residents to bring the total population to 8,344,032.
Kristie Wilder, a Census Bureau Population Division demographer, said in the report that the nation's population growth in its major metros was largely impacted by international migration, rather than changes in birth rates.
"While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas," Wilder said.
New York-Newark-Jersey City (No. 1) and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands (No. 2) were the only two metros to outpace Dallas-Fort Worth's growth during the one-year period. The New York-New Jersey metro added 213,403 new residents, which brought the total population to over 19.94 million last year.
Meanwhile, Houston gained 198,171 new residents with the metro's population now standing at just under 7.80 million.
The top 10 U.S. metros with the highest numeric growth from 2023 to 2024 are:
- No. 1 – New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
- No. 2 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas
- No. 3 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
- No. 4 – Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida
- No. 5 – Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia
- No. 6 – Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona
- No. 7 – Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida
- No. 8 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia
- No. 9 – Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana
- No. 10 – Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
