By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News

Fate continues to realize its destiny as a booming 'burb, and this time it's a chart topper statewide.

No other city in Texas surpassed Fate's 63.4 percent growth, but plenty of other North Texas cities posted high population percentage gains, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Small towns on the fringes of the metro area, such as Fairview, Celina, Melissa, Prosper, Murphy and Royse City, all saw significant gains in their population between 2004 and 2005.

Frisco, the largest city among the top 20 fastest-growing in Texas, grew by 13.5 percent.

Nationwide, Fort Worth stood out among cities with more than 100,000 people by adding 21,000 residents from 2004 to 2005 – more than any other fast-growing city in the nation's top 25.

Mayor Mike Moncrief said the population boom in Fort Worth has been impressive, but city leaders also need to remain cautious. The council should work to ensure that the city is prepared for the influx, he said, and doesn't let it get out of control.

"We want quality growth, not sprawl," he said. "We have our hands full."

There was only one change among rankings in the nation's 10 largest cities. San Antonio continued its upward climb and is now the nation's seventh-largest city, with about 1.3 million people. Dallas is still ninth, with 1.2 million. Those counts are for the cities only, not the metropolitan areas.

Jeff Mosier contributed to this report.

E-mail plavigne@dallasnews.com