Texas Dominates the Country’s Fastest-Growing Cities in 2026

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If “Texas is a state of mind,” as author John Steinbeck once famously said, many people are thinking alike. New data from the U.S. Census shows that the five fastest-growing cities in the nation from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, are all in the Lone Star State. 

This growth is led by Celina, a suburb north of Dallas, whose population increased by nearly 25% in a single year, climbing to 64,427 residents. By comparison, the overall U.S. population increased by only 0.5%.

“The main reason for the extra boom and development is almost purely related to builders being able to get lot costs less expensive in those cities moving further out,” Damon Williamson, a broker with The Agency Dallas, told Realtor.com.

Why Dallas and Houston Are Running the Show

All the cities cited orbit the super-hot Dallas and Houston metros. Four of the five cities—Celina, Princeton, Melissa, and Anna—are based in North Texas, around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, while the fifth, Fulshear, is near Houston, scoring blistering growth rates of 15%-25%. Part of the appeal is these cities’ small-town feel, with proximity to a big city and its amenities.

“People want land, space, great schools, restaurants, sports, and that hometown feel,” Georgina Hennen, a Keller Williams North Country agent, told CBS News.

However, with land cheaper here than elsewhere, the growth potential remains undiminished, regardless of the explosive increase in residents. “In 20 years, we’ll be as big as or bigger than Frisco or Plano—Celina has the land,” Hennen said. “It feels slow until suddenly it’s here.”

Long-Term Buy-and-Holds Are a Good Strategy in Texas

It’s also a reason why investors would do well to consider long-term buy-and-hold investments in some of these master-planned communities—demand for housing is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon. In fact, with strong job markets and positive net migration from pricier northern and coastal cities, it seems set to continue, albeit at a slower pace than in recent years, in part due to immigration shutdowns.

“Midsize cities found a ‘Goldilocks zone’ where domestic and international migration, paired with new housing, helped prevent the sluggish growth seen in small towns and larger metropolitan centers,” Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a news release.

Dallas-Fort Worth: A Rental Property Investment Haven

According to the Urban Land Institute and PwC’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, DFW is the No. 1 market to watch in 2026 and, as such, is a haven for investors.

Andrew Alperstein, partner with PwC’s U.S. real estate practice, told CNBC Make It at the end of last year:

“What’s really changed in the last couple of years is that the financial services shift in Dallas has further accelerated. Companies are moving, and populations are moving, but it’s not all about financial services. It has a pretty diverse economy, is still relatively affordable, and there’s easy access to it. Dallas has a great story that will likely continue from a migration perspective and ongoing development and expansion.”

Fueling the economy and housing are the vast number of jobs that have flowed into the areas due to business-friendly tax laws. The metroplex has attracted 100 corporate headquarters from 2018 to 2024, according to the PwC and Urban Land Institute report, including AT&T, Southwest Airlines, and Texas Instruments.

The Numbers Work

Crucially for investors, the numbers work. The average house price in Fort Worth is around $300,000, with median rents of $2,300 or more for a new three-bedroom home, according to Zillow.

Landlord insurance platform Steadily notes that northern Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs such as McKinney, Frisco, and Allen target stable, higher-income, long-term tenants, while secondary markets such as Sherman and Denison offer lower purchase prices and greater cash-flow potential.

Steadily champions Houston’s credentials as a cash flow leader with rental yields between 6% and 8%—based on average home prices of around $265,000 and average rents for a two-to-three-bedroom apartment or house of $1,500-$2,000—fueled by a diverse economy, with jobs in wide-ranging industries such as energy, healthcare, aerospace, technology, and logistics.

However, investors also need to pay attention to property taxes and landlord insurance, which can be high depending on the geographic location. That said, Obie landlord insurance ranks Texas as the most favorable market for high rental ROI in the U.S., given factors such as the lack of state income tax and high demand for rentals.

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Don’t Forget San Antonio

Although San Antonio is not one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, it is still favorably mentioned by Steadily as a solid rental investment hub, with median home prices around $250,00; a strong economy anchored around medical centers, a $2.5 billion airport expansion, and a military base.

Rents are around $1,600-$1,700. Rentals are affordable at $200,000-$350,000 in good neighborhoods such as West San Antonio, Southtown, Tobin Hill, and Harlandale.

A Landlord-Friendly State

RentRedi names Texas among the most landlord-friendly states in the U.S.

“Texas is a gold mine for investors,” Gavin Yi, founder and CEO of Yijin Hardware, told the property management platform. “With no state income tax and flexible rental rules, it’s a great spot for growing profits. If you want to build your portfolio without the headaches, Texas is hard to beat.” 

Among the key factors that earned Texas its poll position were:

No rent control
No limits on security deposits
A three-day eviction notice (notice to vacate) and a three-to-four-week eviction process
No-entry notice (landlords do not have to inform tenants they intend to enter the apartment before doing so)
Flexible repair rules

Final Thoughts

Having owned rentals in many states, including New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, I can’t overstate the advantage landlords have in Texas’s three-day notice to vacate and the subsequent three-to-four-week eviction process. The churn of evicting bad tenants, renovating apartments, and re-renting is what ultimately kills budgets and makes for bad landlording experiences.

When a tenant knows they can game the system by calling Legal Aid and prolong the eviction process, it’s mentally frustrating and financially crippling for a landlord. When that safety net doesn’t exist, tenants are far more likely to pay on time. It’s just human nature, unfortunately—give an inch, take a mile.

It doesn’t apply to all tenants, of course, and the conscientious ones are who you ultimately want in your rental, but the school of hard knocks has taught me, and many other landlords, that having state laws on your side is a huge deterrent to tenants who put you at the bottom of their list of priorities.

With that starting block, the rest of the Texas metrics are gravy to investors—affordable, modern housing; decent rents; and a healthy job market.

I’m beginning to understand the Texas state of mind.