Almost seven years after Hurricane Katrina displaced thousands of New Orleans residents, it finally looks like the southern city's population is picking up. In a national tally  factoring Census Bureau and Labor statistics, the Big Easy is the fastest growing city in the country. In one year, the population increased by 4.9 percent with a 1.3 percent increase in jobs.

While the unemployment rate is still at a high 8.8 percent, researchers believe the significant growth in information technology, education, and health service jobs are the reason for the drastic increase. Also included in the top five are Austin, Texas; Plano, Texas; Denver, Colorado, and Raleigh, North Carolina. Sadly, even with the rapid increase in New Orleans population, it is only 80 percent of what it was pre-Katrina.