JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Bold New City of the South has seen some bold growth recently.
New census data shows Jacksonville is one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
14,000 people came to Jacksonville between July 2022 and July 2023 according to this new census report.
To put that in perspective, that’s about two and a half entire populations of Starke added to Jacksonville in just a year.
A real estate broker mentioned the thing with growth like that is – finding places for all those people to live.
“Florida on a whole is strong, but the Jacksonville metro, the seven counties that comprise it, have really seen significant economic growth," said Jacksonville-area real estate broker Cyndy Tomassetti.
New census data places Jacksonville forth on a list of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. in terms of total people added.
Tomassetti says there’s a pretty simple explanation for the phenomenon.
“You build the jobs and they will come," said Tomassetti. "That’s why I believe we’ve had this huge influx over the last few years. Why our population is steadily growing.”
The surge has pushed Jacksonville’s population to just under a million, officially adding it to the nation’s top 10 most populated cities, knocking Austin, Texas out in the process, according to Census data.
Tomassetti says the growth is noticeable when it comes to the real estate market.
“They don’t have the single family homes for them," said Tomassetti. "If you’re a developer, these apartment buildings make sense, so yeah you are seeing apartments pop up everywhere to try to keep up with this demand.”
Tomassetti says the strong job market means many of the new folks are interested in finding a home, which has kept Jacksonville in a prolong sellers market with a relatively low inventory.
However, the growth doesn’t come without headaches.
“I hope, personally, that the infrastructure can keep up with the population growth," said Tomassetti. "That’s always my worry.”
Tomassetti mentioned that while Jacksonville may be getting the attention in this data, Clay County is catching the attention of local real estate brokers and agents.
Clay County is still pretty reasonable in terms of home prices, so it’s stayed in a strong seller’s market while Duval and St. Johns have started to shift a bit toward a buyer’s market.