According the US Census Bureau, the Ocala Metro area is the fastest growing, averaging 4% increase year over year.
“Population growth in U.S. metro areas as a whole was faster between 2023 and 2024 than in the previous year and outpaced that of the nation,” the bureau wrote in a press release announcing the new data. “Additionally, some metro areas that experienced population declines during the COVID-19 pandemic are now observing population gains, according to Vintage 2024 estimates of population totals and components of change.”
Ocala’s population on July 1, 2023 was 412,338. It rose 4% to 428,905 by July 1, 2024.
That means that in the four-year span from the spring of 2020 to the summer of 2024, the county grew by approximately 53,003 residents.
According to the Census Bureau, trends show that population growth was faster in metropolitan areas than it was in the rest of the nation during the period measured. In fact, all of the nation’s 387 metropolitan areas had positive net international migration between 2023 and 2024.
Read the full story: https://www.ocala.com/story/news/local/2025/03/19/ocala-florida-metro-is-no-1-on-this-u-s-census-bureau-list/82512997007/
