New population estimates released by the United States Census Bureau show four metro areas in Texas added more people than any state in the country.
The populations in the DFW, Houston, San Antonio and Austin metro areas increased by more than 400,000 people from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015.
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro areas added the most of any metro area -- about 145,000 and 159,000 residents, respectively. The growth keeps DFW and Houston as the fourth and fifth largest areas in the country.
Austin-Round Rock and San Antonio-New Braunfels each gained more than 50,000 people.
The four Texas metro areas collectively added about 412,000 people and Texas as a whole gained about 490,000, the census said.
Eight counties drove Texas’ metro area growth, four in North Texas (Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Denton), two in Houston (Harris and Fort Bend) and one each in Austin (Travis) and San Antonio (Bexar). The counties were among the 20 counties nationwide that gained the most population between 2014 and 2015.
Top 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas by 2015 Population (difference vs 2014)
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area -- 20,182,305 -- +87,186
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area -- 13,340,068 -- +85,671
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area -- 9,551,031 -- -6,263
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area -- 7,102,796 -- +144,704
- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area -- 6,656,947 -- +159,083
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area -- 6,097,684 -- +63,793
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area -- 6,069,875 -- +16,155
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area -- 6,012,331 -- +75,231
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area -- 5,710,795 -- +95,431
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area -- 4,774,321 -- +34,936
Since 2010, population in the Houston-area has outpaced DFW growth by 59,952. The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA increased 736,534 while population in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA increased 676,582.
Other Texas MSAs (difference vs 2014)
- Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area -- 2,000,860 -- +57,395
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area -- 2,384,075 -- +51,285
"The statistics released today provide population estimates for our nation’s 381 metropolitan statistical areas, 536 micropolitan statistical areas and 3,142 counties," the Census Bureau said in a statement. See the entire list of estimates here.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Nationwide, the U.S. population increased by 2,551,219 to 321,418,820. The Census Bureau said 275,252,217 U.S. residents live in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
