Mesa, AZ
– Population change: 467,797 increase (+2,786%)
– 2016 population: 484,587
– 1950 population: 16,790
Many soldiers who trained and worked at Falcon Field Airport and Williams Air Force Base during World War II made their homes in the 1950s in Mesa, Ariz. The population spike attracted business owners; and in the years to follow, new jobs in the aerospace industry, farming sector, and technology companies drove more Americans to make this desert city home.