The future of American cities is in the exurbs. The latest Census Bureau data show that some of the fastest-growing cities are often sitting in the distant orbit of a larger city and centered on booming master-planned communities.
North Carolina remains a growth hot spot. Its famed Research Triangle Park is flanked by Raleigh and Durham, which together had 812,000 residents as of mid-2025, up 9% since 2020. They are surrounded by smaller boomtowns, too, including Cary, Chapel Hill, Apex and Holly Springs. Collectively, eight of those communities grew 14% in the five years through mid-2025 to nearly 500,000 people.
Charlotte, N.C., with a population of almost 965,000, is near joining an exclusive club with just 12 members (including Austin, Texas, a brand new entrant): cities with more than one million people. Charlotte grew 2.2% in the last measured year, faster than any U.S. city with more than 500,000 people.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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