Fort Worth Becomes America’s 10th‑Largest City
Call it Cowtown, call it the Panther City, call it what you will—but Fort Worth is now officially one of America’s Big Top 10, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, surpassing previously 10th-ranked Jacksonville, Florida, by more than 10,000 people. In other North Texas growth news, Celina is the fastest-growing city in all of the U.S., boosting its population by 24.6% in 2025.

A 16-foot mirrored disco cowboy hat in Fort Worth’s Sundance Square—a once-temporary installation—is a glittery symbol of the city’s evolving identity, fusing its Cowtown roots with modern growth and energy. [Photo: travelview/iStockphoto]

Fort Worth has been one of America’s fastest-growing cities for years, and now all that growth has led to a big new claim: Fort Worth is now America’s 10th-largest city.

Call it Cowtown, call it the Panther City, call it what you will—but it’s now officially one of America’s Big Top 10, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest data. To earn that status, it surpassed the population of previously 10th-ranked Jacksonville, Florida, by more than 10,000 people, the city noted.

Fort Worth remains the fourth-largest city in Texas after Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. (Fort Worth would have to quickly move in around 300,001 people to eclipse Dallas for the No. 9 spot.)

“Fort Worth is booming for the right reasons,” Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement. “As we celebrate our top 10 ranking, it’s more important than ever that we continue to lead with smart policies, smart investments and smart planning to ensure the city we love thrives long into the future.”

Data points mark Fort Worth’s rise

There’s new census data to back up both Fort Worth’s No. 10 position and the growth of other cities in across Dallas-Fort Worth. 

  • Fort Worth had the second-largest numeric population increase between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, gaining 19,512 new residents. (Charlotte, North Carolina, had the biggest population boost.)
  • Fort Worth’s fast growth is an anomaly among the nation’s largest cities. “Big-city growth slowed significantly between 2024 and 2025, with some major hubs even seeing small declines,” Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a statement. Growth slowdowns in the nation’s largest cities were most pronounced in the Northeast, the Census Bureau said.
  • The top five fastest-growing cities in the U.S. with populations of 20,000 or more were all in Texas, with four of them located in the suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro and the fifth located outside Houston. Celina, north of Dallas, was the fastest-growing city in all of the U.S., boosting its population by 24.6%.

 

Fort Worth City Manager Jay Chapa said “substantial growth like we’re seeing in Fort Worth doesn’t just happen.”

“The City of Fort Worth is extremely fortunate because over several decades we’ve been led by public servants who prioritize fiscal discipline, continuous improvement of our city services, and a focus on delivering a high quality of life for our residents,” Chapa added in a statement. “Being among the top 10 largest cities is an important reminder to all of us that our work matters, and we have a responsibility to continue stewarding this phenomenal growth into the future.”

According to the Census Bureau, here are the 15 most populous cities in America as of 2025:

  1. New York City (8.5 million)
  2. Los Angeles (3.8 million)
  3. Chicago (2.7 million)
  4. Houston (2.3 million)
  5. Phoenix (1.6 million)
  6. Philadelphia (1.5 million)
  7. San Antonio (1.5 million)
  8. San Diego (1.4 million)
  9. Dallas (1.3 million)
  10. Fort Worth (1 million)
  11. Jacksonville (1 million)
  12. Austin (1 million)
  13. San Jose (989,000)
  14. Charlotte (964,000)
  15. Columbus (935,000)

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