Explore the newly released Vintage 2021 Population Estimates for each Tennessee city and town by clicking or tapping on its indicator. Use the map search bar to navigate to a community.
Add another Middle Tennessee community to the list of cities that have showed up among the country’s fastest-growing in recent years.
Spring Hill, located 30 miles south of Nashville, had the 10th largest percentage increase among U.S. cities with a population over 50,000 in 2021, according to new U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates released today.
The city added 2,744 new residents between July 1, 2020, and June 1, 2021. The 5.4 percent one-year increase pushed Spring Hill’s total population to an estimated 53,339 people. The increase is on top of the 21,000 people it added between 2010 and 2020.
The municipality, which straddles the Maury and Williamson county line, added 1,102 residents in Maury and 1,732 residents to Williamson’s totals.
| Rank | Area Name | State Name | Percent Increase | 2021 Total Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown | Texas | 10.5 | 75,420 |
| 2 | Leander | Texas | 10.1 | 67,124 |
| 3 | Queen Creek | Arizona | 8.9 | 66,346 |
| 4 | Buckeye | Arizona | 8.6 | 101,315 |
| 5 | New Braunfels | Texas | 8.3 | 98,857 |
| 6 | Fort Myers | Florida | 6.8 | 92,245 |
| 7 | Casa Grande | Arizona | 6.2 | 57,699 |
| 8 | Maricopa | Arizona | 6.1 | 62,720 |
| 9 | North Port | Florida | 5.5 | 80,021 |
| 10 | Spring Hill | Tennessee | 5.4 | 53,339 |
Source: Vintage 2021 Population Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2022.
Additions in suburban communities around Austin, San Antonio and Phoenix topped the new 2021 rankings.
The largest numeric increases included four cities that added more than 10,000 new residents last year, including San Antonio, Phoenix, Fort Worth and Port St. Lucie, FL., as western and southern regions of the country again led increases.
Middle Tennessee Again Tops the Fastest Growing in State
The largest population gains among Tennessee cities were in the middle part of the state last year. Murfreesboro (+4,177) and Clarksville (+3,699) both added more residents than Spring Hill last year, with Lebanon and Gallatin rounding out the top five.
| Rank | City Name | 2021 Population | Increase | Percent Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murfreesboro | 157,519 | 4,177 | 2.7% |
| 2 | Clarksville | 170,957 | 3,699 | 2.2% |
| 3 | Spring Hill | 53,339 | 2,744 | 5.4% |
| 4 | Lebanon | 40,888 | 2,296 | 5.9% |
| 5 | Gallatin | 46,902 | 2,209 | 4.9% |
| 6 | Knoxville | 192,648 | 2,054 | 1.1% |
| 7 | Smyrna | 55,518 | 2,002 | 3.7% |
| 8 | Franklin | 85,469 | 1,582 | 1.9% |
| 9 | Columbia | 43,340 | 1,461 | 3.5% |
| 10 | Nolensville | 15,487 | 1,370 | 9.7% |
Source: Vintage 2021 Population Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2022.
Knoxville was the only city outside of the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas to appear on the state’s top-ten list this year.
The east Tennessee city had the sixth largest increase at 2,054 new residents. Growth in the unincorporated suburbs of Knox County added 3,670 people over the 1-year stretch, topping the state and adding enough people to make it the equivalent of the third fastest-growing city.
Population Falls in the State’s Two Largest Cities
Todays’ news that the state’s two largest cities had lost population didn’t come as a surprise. March figures showed that the counties where Nashville (Davidson County) and Memphis (Shelby County) both lost population. Nashville was down -10,397 people to an estimated population of 678,851 in 2021. The loss was the twelfth largest among all U.S. cities.
Memphis fell -3,199 people to 628,217.
In both cases, the reported losses were driven by negative net domestic migration, more people moving out than moved in. A host of other large U.S. cities saw a similar fate last year as in-migration to the central counties in some metropolitan areas faltered.
Smaller communities in Tennessee faired better. The 313 cities and towns in state with a population of less than 20,000 people grew by 0.85 percent in 2021. Medium-sized cities with populations up to 100,000 grew almost twice as fast; recording a 1.67 percent growth rate on average.
Average percent population change by city or town size in Tennessee
Small Towns
+0.85%
<20,000 people
Medium Cities
+1.67%
20,000 to 100,000 people
Large Cities
-0.16%
>100,000 people
Source: Tennessee State Data Center analysis of Vintage 2021 Population Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2022.
About the Estimates
The Tennessee State Data Center compiled reports of the 2021 Population Estimates for states, counties and cities on its website.
Census Bureau estimates of cities and town population are made by using updated housing unit estimates to distribute county household population to subcounty areas based on the average household population per housing unit. More information about the procedures are available on the Census Bureau Population Estimate website.