These are the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.

Move over, New York. Florida is now the nation's third-most populous state, and if trends continue, The Sunshine State could soon give even California (38.8 million people) a run for its money.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, The Villages, a Floridian city west of Orlando, ranked as the nation's fastest-growing metro area last year, as its population increased by a remarkable 5.4 percent. The report also revealed that Florida "contained seven of the nation's top 50 numerically gaining metro areas" — enough to reverse the long-standing "more deaths than births" statistic.

Also seeing a population boom last year was Texas, the nation's second-most populated state (27 million people). The Lone Star State had the largest growth of people by counties, and claimed four cities in the top 20 fastest-growing metro areas.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Rounding out the top ten fastest-growing cities list behind The Villages were: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Austin, Texas; Odessa, Texas; and St. George, Utah.