Census: Port St. Lucie's population is booming right now

Port St. Lucie, FL — South Florida is a growing place, with many new residents moving here all the time.

One city in our area has just reached a significant milestone. Port St. Lucie is becoming one of the nation's most desirable places.

Among metropolitan areas with at least a half-million people, Port St. Lucie had the second fastest growth rate in the country between 2020 and 2023. Lakeland ranks number one. In fact, four of the top five metropolitan areas that size in the United States with the largest population growth are all in the state of Florida.

"We came here from the Ft. Lauderdale area trying to escape the craziness down that way," Port St. Lucie resident Carl Dertinger said.

Janet Hart, who moved to the city in 2020, agreed, saying, "I like that it's quieter than like Miami or some of the larger cities. It's more of a family setting."

City leaders attribute the population growth to affordable home prices and safety in Port St. Lucie.

"Port St. Lucie has been one of the safest cities in the state for more than a decade. I think affordability is one of the things that Port St. Lucie has historically been known for especially as it comes to housing but, we've seen a lot of economic development," said Scott Samples, a City of Port St. Lucie spokesperson.

Samples says almost 40,000 people have moved to Port St. Lucie in the last three years.

He says the city is trying to find ways to grow that are manageable and responsible so they can maintain the quality of life that is drawing so many people to Port St. Lucie in the first place.

A Port St. Lucie resident for the past five years, Margherita Cloney summed up why she's stuck around, "I love the weather, to me this is like paradise. I like the palm trees and I'm very happy in Port St. Lucie because the crime rate when we investigated was very low."