For the second consecutive year San Marcos has been named the fastest-growing large city in the nation by the U.S. Census Bureau for the year ending July 1. San Marcos grew by 8 percent during that period to 54,076 residents. Cities included on the list must have at least 50,000 residents.

San Marcos was joined by other Texas cities including Frisco, Cedar Park and Georgetown on the list of the top 10 fastest-growing cities in the nation.

San Marcos Mayor Daniel Guerrero said the city's ranking at the top of the list provides a spotlight and publicity, but can also be deceiving. The city only qualified for the rankings last year when the Census Bureau counted 50,001 residents within the city.

"When you kind of look at it, the growth has been happening for a much longer period of time," Guerrero said. "This is not a new phenomenon."

Guerrero credited the city's location between Austin and San Antonio, natural features, Texas State University and other factors for the city's growth.

Some of the growing pains other Central Texas cities are experiencing—including diminishing water supplies and congested roadways—have been lighter in San Marcos because city leadership has worked to be innovative in addressing issues of water, traffic and education, he said.

The work of the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency, a coalition that includes San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and a group of water utilities, has been working for more than a decade to bring water to the I-35 corridor in Hays County, Guerrero said.

"We've been blessed with having some previous leaders—past council members, county commissioners, elected officials—who really had the foresight to look into the future at their time and see the need to diversify our water supplies," he said. "We mostly rely on surface waterwe don't have much reliance on the Edwards Aquifer."

Houston and San Antonio ranked in the top five of total population increase. Houston ranked second with 35,202 new residents. San Antonio ranked fourth with 25,378 new residents.

The news release announcing the ranking is available here.

The Main Street Program of San Marcos and Tour San Marcos also created a video about the city's growth and culture, which can be seen here.