Census bureau releases 2023 population estimates. Where do Volusia, Flagler cities rank?

For the first time, a Volusia-Flagler county city has crossed the 100,000 threshold in population.

According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday, Palm Coast's population was estimated at 102,113, as of July 1, 2023. The city that recently overtook Deltona as the most populous in the two-county region has grown rapidly since its original founding just over a half-century ago, challenging city officials to keep up with the growth.

Meanwhile, Mayor David Alfin is talking about doubling its size in the coming decades.

Future growth will get a big boost if $80 million in the 2024-25 Florida budget survives the veto pen of Gov. Ron DeSantis in coming weeks. That money is slated to used to help extend west two roads: Matanzas Woods and Palm Coast parkways, and to build a new road linking the two.

"The (undeveloped west Palm Coast) properties ... represent a blank canvas from which we can build in infrastructure and a master plan development for the future, which provides all of the ... elements perhaps missing from the original Palm Coast ITT plan which was formulated 50 years ago," Alfin said.

Volusia, Flagler counties' growth

Flagler County's population has jumped 14% since 2020, as it grew by nearly 4% between July 1, 2022, and the same time the following year.

Flagler County's population is 131,439.

Volusia's is now 590,357, representing a 6.7% rise from 2020 and 1.8% since 2022.

Volusia is the 12th largest county in Florida, ranking behind: Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Orange, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Polk, Brevard and Pasco.

Daytona Beach among communities growing fastest

Three cities in Volusia-Flagler counties have actually grown faster than Palm Coast on a percentage basis since 2020:

• Orange City, up 18.2%, to 14,928.

• Bunnell, up 17.9%, to 3,879.

• Daytona Beach, up 15.2% to 82,485.

Deltona remains the largest city in Volusia County, just shy of six figures at 98,739, while another West Volusia city, DeLand, is up to 43,009.

Daytona Beach Shores, with its line of beachfront condos appealing to seniors and snowbirds, was among the slowest-growing cities, at 1.4%. Growing even slower were Pierson, the northwest Volusia fern-growing community, at 1.2% and Holly Hill at 0.8%.

Among other Florida cities, Jacksonville was most populous, 10th in the United States, with 985,843. The next four largest: Miami (455,924); Tampa (403,364); Orlando (320,742) and St. Petersburg (263,553).

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: How fast are Palm Coast, Daytona Beach growing in latest Census data?