The population has been steadily increasing in the Sunshine State, but according to estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida is home to four of the five fastest growing metros in the country.
According to the data, Wildwood-The Villages, which is known for having a rather large retirement community– had a population growth of nearly 5% or 151,565, making it the fastest-growing metro area in the U.S.
Following close behind as the country's second fastest-growing metro area, Lakeland-Winter Haven rose nearly 4% to 818,330.
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Ocala and Port St. Lucie, the fourth and fifth fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S., respectively, had a population growth of more than 3% each with 409,959 and 536,901.
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But this surge is not surprising.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this rapid growth in population across the Sunshine State is a reflection of a larger trend happening in the South.
Data shows the South is the fastest-growing region in the country and the site of the top 10 fastest-growing U.S. metro areas from 2022 to 2023.
What could be contributing to the growth?
In short, migration.
From 2022 to 2023, many people moved to this region, contributing to its overall positive net domestic migration, the Census Bureau reported.
In the span of one year, 28 of the top 30 metro areas with the highest positive domestic migration were in the South.
This is probably why Texas also saw such an increase in population across its metros.
In fact, the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metro areas led the nation in the number of new residents during this period due to a large influx of domestic and international migrants as well as more births than deaths.
