Albuquerque, NM
– Population change: 462,265 increase (+477%)
– 2016 population: 559,277
– 1950 population: 97,012
In a 1942 letter, journalist Ernie Pyle urged Americans to move to Albuquerque, N.M., to live a life unburdened by the soot and smoke of large cities. The Albuquerque City Council in the 1950s began a similar campaign with ads urging people to make their homes in the Southwest town because it was a “wonderful place to live.”