Melissa grew 14.5% in the year ending July 1, 2025, to 29,969 residents, the fourth-fastest growth rate of any U.S. city with at least 20,000 people, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates.
That leaves the city 31 people short of 30,000 in the estimate. Melissa added 3,791 residents during the year.
Doubling in five years
At the April 2020 census, Melissa had 13,900 residents. The estimates put its growth since then at about 116%, more than doubling the city. Yearly, the bureau's figures show:
- July 2021: 16,969
- July 2022: 19,423
- July 2023: 23,800
- July 2024: 26,178
- July 2025: 29,969
The biggest single year was 2022 to 2023, when Melissa added about 4,400 people. Growth slowed the next year, to about 2,400, then picked up again in 2025.
Along U.S. 75
Melissa's growth is part of a run of fast-growing towns on the U.S. 75 corridor north of McKinney. Anna, just to the north, grew 10.2% and ranked fifth nationally. Farther north, Van Alstyne grew 11.0%, though it is too small to be included in the national ranking. McKinney, to the south, added 8,504 residents, the 10th-largest gain of any U.S. city.
With Celina and Princeton, four of the five fastest-growing U.S. cities of 20,000-plus are North Texas suburbs.
How it compares
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. Melissa grew more than four times as fast as the county and about 12 times as fast as the state.
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)
