Florida's Rapidly Growing Areas: A Closer Look

Florida dominates the list of fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023, with The Villages and Wildwood area leading at 4.7 percent population growth, followed by Lakeland and Winter Haven at 3.8 percent. Ocala and Port St. Lucie also made the top five, with the only non-Florida area being Myrtle Beach, S.C. The U.S. Census Bureau noted that this growth reflects a larger trend of population increase across the South, which is the nation's fastest-growing region.