From San Francisco during the Gold Rush era to Silicon Valley cities amid the tech surge, boomtowns have played a defining role in California history.
Today, the Golden State still has a handful of new boomtowns, which “stand out for attracting people, investment and development at a pace that sets them apart,” according to SmartAsset, a financial technology company.
In a recent report, SmartAsset said it assessed more than 400 cities nationwide that had populations of 65,000 or more to identify places experiencing rapid growth. The company then used three factors — economic output, housing units and labor force size — based on five-year growth to derive an overall score for each city.
Those scores were then used to rank 75 cities, including four in California, as America’s newest boomtowns.
“Boomtown status does not mean growth benefits everyone equally, but it does reflect a city’s expanding economic capacity and the new opportunities that come with it,” SmartAsset said.
Here’s what to know about the report and what it found for the California cities that made the list.
SmartAsset’s methodology
SmartAsset focused on cities with populations of more than 65,000, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. It then scored each city based on three growth metrics: five-year changes in labor force and housing units, and county-level compound annual real GDP growth.
Changes in labor force and housing units were determined using 2019 and 2024 American Community Survey data.
“Labor force includes residents ages 16 and older who are employed or actively seeking work,” SmartAsset said.
To estimate economic output, the company used 2019 and 2024 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, noting that county-level real GDP served as a proxy for city-level growth.
The cities were assigned overall scores based on the three metrics, then ranked accordingly.
What to know about California’s new boomtowns
Four California cities were identified as emerging boomtowns in SmartAsset’s report: Menifee, Rancho Cordova, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. All are in Northern California except Menifee, which is located in Southern California.
Here’s a closer look at each of the state’s boomtowns.
Menifee (#65)
Menifee is in southwestern Riverside County, about 30 miles southeast of the city of Riverside. The city had a population of just over 100,000 in 2020, which grew to an estimated 118,592 by July 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Rancho Cordova (#70)
Rancho Cordova is in Sacramento County, about 15 miles east of downtown Sacramento. The city’s population was nearly 80,000 in 2020 and rose to about 87,000 by July 2025, Census Bureau estimates show.
Santa Clara (#72)
Santa Clara, nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, had a population of 127,647 in 2020, increasing to an estimated 133,446 by July 2025, according to the Census Bureau.
Sunnyvale (#75)
Sunnyvale, also in the heart of Silicon Valley, had a population of 140,081 in 2020, growing to an estimated 156,577 by July 2025, Census Bureau data shows.
Key takeaways, highest-ranking boomtowns nationwide
Florida leads the nation with the most boomtowns, claiming 19, which is the highest number in SmartAsset’s study.
Texas follows closely with 18 boomtowns. Two of its cities also top the list, with Georgetown ranking No. 1 and New Braunfels No. 2.
“The two Central Texas cities each saw five-year increases of more than 30% in labor force size and housing units, while county-level economic output grew at compound annual rates of 7.7% in Williamson County and 6.8% in Comal County,” SmartAsset said.
Lehi, Utah, which ranks third, has seen its population size nearly double since 2010, “as major employers, including Adobe, Microsoft and Texas Instruments, have established or expanded facilities in the city,” SmartAsset said.
There is just one boomtown in the Northeast: Portland, Maine, which ranks at 55. SmartAsset attributes its boomtown status to “investment tied to biotech and artificial intelligence.”
Here are the top 10 boomtowns in the United States, per SmartAsset’s report.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Four California cities among America’s newest boomtowns, report says
Reporting by Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
