The U.S. population growth rate recently hit a low point not seen since 1937, when the country was in the thick of the Great Depression. The U.S. population grew by just 0.62% between July 2017 and July 2018, according to Census Bureau data.

The slowing national population growth appears to be part of a long-term trend. Still, population growth rates vary in different parts of the country, and some areas buck the national trend. In nearly every state, there is at least one city that has reported rapid population growth in recent years.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed U.S. Census Bureau data on 382 metro areas from 2010 to 2018 to identify the fastest growing city in each state. With only one metro area in each New Hampshire, Vermont, and Delaware, the city listed is only the fastest growing by default. Still, each of those three metro areas is growing faster than the corresponding state as a whole. It stands to reason that rapidly growing cities are desirable places to live, and not surprisingly, parts of the metro areas on this list also rank as the best city to live in the state.

Population change is the product of two factors – net migration and natural growth. Natural growth is simply the number of births over a given period less the number of deaths. Net migration is the difference between the number of new residents – either from other parts of the country or from abroad – and the number of residents who have left the area.

The slowing national population growth rate in the last year is attributable to a slowing birth rate and a climbing death rate. In the majority of the cities on this list, the strong long-term population growth is primarily attributable to natural growth. In 11 cities on this list, the population growth has been driven by domestic migration.

People often move to a new city for economic reasons such as a strong job market and high incomes that provide a level of stability attractive to young families. These cities, more often than not, have faster than average job growth and relatively low unemployment. Some even rank among the 25 cities that added the most jobs last year. Most also have a higher than typical median income.

Click here to see the fastest growing city in every state
Click here to read our methodology