These Are Fastest Growing (And Shrinking) Cities In The US & Canada

Despite Canada having a population just 12% the size of the United States, the country was home to a majority of the fastest-growing cities between the two neighboring countries.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the population change of the central cities (i.e. not including suburbs) in Canada and the U.S. that saw the greatest increases and decreases in population in 2023.

The figures come from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Urban Research & Land Development’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Statistics Canada population estimates as of July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2023.

Toronto is the Fastest-Growing City in Canada and the U.S.

Below, we show the top cities in the Canada and the U.S. in terms of population growth between July 2022 and July 2023.

Eight of the top 10 fastest-growing cities were in Canada. Only two U.S. cities in Texas, Fort Worth and San Antonio, made the top 10.

Toronto saw the highest increase in population, adding over 120,000 people to the city in 2023. This growth is largely driven by the significant number of immigrants who choose to settle within the city of Toronto. In 2021, around 30% of recent immigrants to Canada lived in Toronto.

Toronto has long been a hub for immigration. In 2021, almost half (46.6%) of the population living in the Toronto metropolitan area were immigrants, according to Statistics Canada.

Cities with the Largest Population Losses

In terms of the highest population loss, major U.S. cities like New York, Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, all experienced significant population decreases in 2023.

In 2023, over 70,000 people left New York City. While this was a decrease from their 2022 population loss of 126,000 people, it was still the highest population loss last year out of any other city in the Canada or the United States.

The trend was similar statewide: around half a million people left the state of New York in 2022, largely due to high cost of living, according to USA Today.

Not a single large central city in Canada saw a net population loss in 2023.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that this analysis considers central cities only (i.e. not surrounding suburbs in a metropolitan area). If looking at metro area growth, Toronto and Canadian cities still reign supreme, but cities like Orlanda, Tampa, and Atlanta also make an appearance in the bottom half of the top 10.

To learn more about the most expensive places to live in the U.S., check out this graphic on which states have the highest cost of living.