A 2020 report names small cities in the South and West among the fastest growing in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's data on population gains from 2010 to 2019.
The analysis of each city's economic growth comes from Wallethub, which evaluated cities using two core dimensions: sociodemographics (50 points) and jobs and economy (50 points). These dimensions were assessed using 17 metrics, including population growth, growth in share of college-educated population, median household income growth, unemployment rate decrease, increase in number of businesses and median house price growth. The study defines a small city as one with fewer than 100,000 people.
Below are the top 30 small cities with the highest growth. The full ranking and scoring can be found here.
1. Fort Myers, Fla.: 80.36
2. Milpitas, Calif.: 77.78
3. Town 'n' Country, Fla.: 70.95
4. Mount Pleasant, S.C.: 69.52
5. Nampa, Idaho: 69.13
6. Chino, Calif.: 68.56
7. Concord, N.C.: 64.85
8. Boynton Beach, Fla.: 64.11
9. Indio, Calif.: 63.75
10. Flower Mound, Texas: 63.03
11. Manteca, Calif.: 62.54
12. Saint George, Utah: 61.21
13. Bellingham, Wash.: 61.00
14. Palm Coast, Fla.: 60.36
15. Folsom, Calif.: 59.43
16. Redwood City, Calif.: 58.38
17. Tracy, Calif.: 57.66
18. Avondale, Ariz.: 57.33
19. Longmont, Colo.: 56.82
20. Pleasanton, Calif.: 56.41
21. Orem, Utah: 55.78
22. Chino Hills, Calif.: 55.75
23. Loveland, Colo.: 55.48
24. Lake Forest, Calif.: 55.25
25. Beaverton, Ore.: 55.21
26. Deltona, Fla.: 54.08
27. Kendall, Fla.: 54.00
28. Layton, Utah: 53.58
29. Mountain View, Calif.: 53.22
30. Fayetteville, Ark.: 53.18