A May 22 Washington Post article reported that Gaithersburg is the 8th fastest growing city in the United States, seeing a 4.4% population increase since 2012.
According to data released by the United States Census Bureau, seven of the top 15 fastest growing cities were in Texas, with other cities in Arizona, Idaho, and Utah helping the West to dominate the list. The only other non-western cities besides Gaithersburg were Franklin, Tennessee (ranked 14) and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (ranked 9). San Marcos, Texas, topped the list with a yearly population growth of 8.0%.
Gaithersburg, in Montgomery County, is a suburb northwest of Washington, a commuter hub that has become a center of high-tech business activity in recent years and a magnet for the well-educated, immigrants and non-immigrants. Among its largest employers are the National Institute of Standards and Technology, IBM and Medimmune.
The median household income in Gaithersburg is about $81,000, according to census data.
Gaithersburg is about 50 percent white, 24 percent Hispanic, 16 percent African American and 17 percent Asian. (Complete totals are here. Exceeds 100 percent because “Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories.”)
Money Magazine ranks it as the 23rd best smaller city in America.
