Texas leads in population growth since 2010

TM Daily:

“Texas dominated” a new United States Census Bureau report that tracked population growth between April 1, 2010 (the date of the last full ten-year census) and July 1, 2011.

“These numbers provide further evidence of a continuation of the trend of rapid population growth in Texas we observed between the 2000 and 2010 censuses,” Census Bureau director Robert Groves said in a news release. 

The bureau said that “Texas dominated the list as a whole,” though New Orleans, which is still bouncing back from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, topped the list of “fastest-growing large cities.”

Number two was Round Rock, followed in quick succession by Austin, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, and Denton. Also in the top fifteen were McAllen (thirteen) and Carrollton (fourteen). 

“We have a relatively young population, which is increasingly Hispanic, and that population tends to have a higher birth rate,” state demographer Lloyd Potter told Steve Campbell of theFort Worth Star-Telegram. “Add migration to that, and you have why we are topping all these growth lists.”

Other statistics of note include:

• Nine U.S. cities, including DeSoto and Cedar Park, topped 50,000 people since 2010.
• Six Texas cities saw the largest growth by the numbers: Houston (number two), San Antonio (three), Austin (four), Dallas (six), Fort Worth (twelve), and El Paso (thirteen). 
• Houston (three), San Antonio (seven), and Dallas (nine) remain among the ten most populous cities in the country.

But the big news on that last front was Austin, as Juan Castillo of the Austin American-Statesman wrote:

Austin grew by 3.8 percent to crack the 800,000 mark, at 820,611. Austin is now the nation’s 13th-largest city, up from No. 14 in 2010. It swapped spots with San Francisco.

Austin appears poised to catch two cities ahead of it on the list: Jacksonville, Fla., and Indianapolis, with populations of 827,908 and 827,609.

... 

Texas is growing because it has conservative policies that include low taxes, low regulation and it is welcoming to the energy sector rather than being hostile to it the way California is. Texas also has tort reform which has reined in trail lawyers and made it a destination state for doctors.

This has allowed businesses to grow which has increased migration to the state.  Some of the smaller cities in South Texas that are not on the list have also seen explosive growth in the last year as workers flood the area where the Eagle Ford formation is producing oil from a shale formation.  Midland has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation as work on the Permian basin oil field has grown dramatically.