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Texas, Austin Suburbs Lead The Nation In Population Growth (Again)

Austin had the 12th largest population increase between 2016 and 2017, adding 12,515 people.
Montinique Monroe for KUT
Austin had the 12th largest population increase between 2016 and 2017, adding 12,515 people.

Texas is  again leading the nation in fast-growing cities, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Three of the top five growing U.S. cities in 2016-2017 were in Texas.

“San Antonio, Texas, tops the list with the largest population gain with an increase of over 24,200 people,” said Amel Toukabri, a demographer with the Census Bureau. “That’s a growth rate of 1.6 percent. This growth was enough to push San Antonio's population above the 1.5 million mark.”

Dallas and Fort Worth had the third and fourth largest population increases, respectively — each adding almost 19,000 people between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017. Fort Worth passed Indianapolis to become the 15th largest city in the nation.

Austin had the 12th largest population increase, adding 12,515 people between 2016 and 2017. It remains the 11th largest city in the U.S.

Texas suburbs  continued their domination of the list of fastest-growth on a percentage basis.

Percentage-wise, Frisco topped the list, growing by 8.2 percent — to a total population of 177,286. Rounding out the top three fast-growing cities were New Braunfels (adding 8 percent) and Pflugerville (adding 6.5 percent). Georgetown came in 6th, adding 5.4 percent, and Cedar Park came in 13th, adding 4.2 percent.

Overall, the South was the fastest-growing region for cities over 50,000 people.

Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit .

Matt has been a reporter at KUT off and on since 2006. He came to Austin from Boston, then went back for a while--but couldn't stand to be away--so he came back to Austin. Matt grew up in Maine (but hates lobster), and while it might sound hard to believe, he thinks Maine and Texas are remarkably similar.