Drew Dixon
A city’s growth is often driven by innovation and commerce from its younger population. That’s good news for Gainesville, which a new study says has one of the largest 20-something demographics in the nation.
The study by moveBuddha, a relocation moving services company, placed Gainesville third in the U.S. in its 20-something population share among cities with populations exceeding 100,000 people,
Of course, Gainesville is home to the University of Florida. The university buoys the city even after some of those 20-somethings graduate, according to the moveBuddha study.
“Gainesville has 57,00 students in a city of 144,000. It’s a massive ratio, and the university’s many large graduate programs, like business, engineering, medicine, and law, keep plenty of 20-somethings near campus,” the study found.
Analysts at moveBuddha used U.S. Census data to compare the percentage of 20-to-29-year-olds in U.S. cities.
Much of that list is made up of college towns. Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, topped the list. That was followed by College Station, Texas, which is home to Texas A&M University.
The study wasn’t all good news for Florida. Orlando, despite its collection of theme parks and other tourist attractions often aimed at young people, is losing a substantial portion of its permanent 20-something population.
Orlando had the third-sharpest decline of young people between 2013 and 2023. The study found that the Central Florida city saw a more than 22-percentage-point drop over the decade, with that demographic falling from 21.34% of the population to 16.58%.
Analysts did note that surrounding suburban enclaves such Lake Nona and Clermont are growing their youth populations, with both showing double-digit growth. But within the Orlando city limits, the youth population definitely took a substantial hit.
New Orleans had the biggest decrease of 20-somethings, with a more than 26-percentage-point drop between 2013 and 2023. Themecula, California, between Los Angeles and San Diego, was second with a drop of nearly 25 percentage points.
