Celina added 12,710 residents in the year ending July 1, 2025, growing 24.6% to 64,427 and ranking as the fastest-growing city in the United States with at least 20,000 people, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates.
The Census Bureau noted that Celina was also the fastest-growing city in 2023.
Biggest year yet
The latest gain was the largest of the decade for Celina. By the bureau's yearly estimates, the city added about 10,400 people from 2021 to 2022, about 9,300 the next year and about 7,900 the year after that, before adding 12,710 in the year ending July 2025.
That gain was also the fourth-largest numeric increase of any U.S. city, behind three far larger cities, including Fort Worth and San Antonio.
Passing its neighbors
At 64,427, Celina is now larger than Little Elm (62,727) and Sherman (52,417). In April 2020, Celina had 17,099 residents, well under half of either. Its population has nearly quadrupled, up 277% in a little more than five years.
A regional pattern
Celina is not alone. Princeton, Melissa and Anna ranked third, fourth and fifth nationally, so four of the five fastest-growing U.S. cities of 20,000-plus are North Texas suburbs. Across the 21 North Texas cities and towns this newsroom covers, the region added 64,204 people in a year, while some older suburbs, including Plano and Allen, dipped slightly.
How it compares
Celina's growth rate was about 20 times the state's. Texas as a whole grew 1.2% over the same year, adding 391,243 residents, and Collin County grew 3.4% to about 1.3 million, adding 42,966. Celina, most of which is in Collin County, extends into Denton County as well, which grew 2.2%.
These are Census Bureau estimates, not counts, and the bureau revises earlier years with each new release. They follow city limits, so annexed land counts as growth, and the city's own planning figures may differ.
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates, released May 14, 2026: census.gov U.S. Census Bureau, Texas city and town population estimates, 2020-2025: www2.census.gov Regional analysis of all 21 North Texas cities and towns: North Texas growth has moved north: Census estimates put Celina, Princeton, Melissa and Anna among the nation's fastest-growing cities (frisco.city)