Image Credit: City of Spring Hill, TN – Municipal Government / Facebook
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Spring Hill was the 10th fastest-growing city in the United States between July 2020 and July 2021, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Spring Hill has been one of Tennessee’s fastest growing cities since the General Motors plant, its largest in North America, opened in 1990, when the city’s population was 1,464. The 2021 numbers show that population is now 53,339 and still growing.
The news comes less than a week after the Census found that it had undercounted Tennessee’s population by 4.78% in the 2020 Census, an undercount of 322,000 people according to analysis from the Tennessee State Data Center at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Spring Hill, which straddles Maury and Williamson counties, had less than 1,000 residents in the 1980 Census before it began growing quickly following the GM plant opening.
The 7.9 million square foot facility on 2,000 acres employs more than 3,200 workers, building the Cadillac XT5, XT6 and will soon produce the electric Lyriq SUV.
Spring Hill added more than 20,000 residents between its 2010 population of 29,036 and 41,797 in 2020.
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Last year, GM and Ultium Cells announced a $2.3 billion vehicle battery cell plant on 2.8-million-square feet in Spring Hill that is expected to employ 1,300 workers after construction is complete in 2023.
Tennessee gave Ultium Cells a $60 million incentive for the project less than a year after GM received $35 million in incentive grants to build a $1.7 billion expansion in Spring Hill to become an electric vehicle manufacturing site and retrain 2,000 employees at the plant.
Among the top 10 fastest-growing cities between 2020 and 2021 were three Texas cities (Georgetown, Leander, New Braunfels, four Arizona cities (Queen Creek, Buckeye, Casa Grande and Maricopa) and two Florida cities (Fort Myers, North Port) along with Spring Hill according to analysis from the Tennessee State Data Center.
Using strictly raw numbers, Spring Hill was third behind Murfreesboro and Clarksville in population growth over the year and just ahead of Lebanon, Gallatin, Knoxville and Smyrna, which all added more than 2,000 residents.
Murfreesboro added 4,177 to 157,519 while Clarksville added 3,699 to 170,957. Nolensville had 9.7% growth to 15,487 while Lebanon had 5.9% growth to 40,888.
The data also showed that Tennessee’s two largest cities lost population in 2021, with Nashville dropping 10,397 to 678,217 and Memphis dropping 3,199 to 628,217.
“In both cases, the reported losses were driven by negative net domestic migration, more people moving out than moved in,” according to the Tennessee State Data Center. “A host of other large U.S. cities saw a similar fate last year as in-migration to the central counties in some metropolitan areas faltered.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
One Response
I’ve lived here my entire life. Progress happens and that’s part of life. But for the love of all that’s good. Quit building so many apartments in Spring Hill.