Texas has half the big cities with the greatest population growth

Jun. 22, 2010

By STEVE CAMPBELL

Texas notched five of the top 10 spots for population growth among cities with over 100,000 people, according to new census estimates for 2009.

Fort Worth ranked fifth, adding 23,276 residents. It was a continuation of Cowtown's 33 percent growth spurt since 2000 as the population grew from 543,338 to 727,525. The next-biggest percentage gainer among cities with over 500,000 people was Atlanta, which jumped 29.2 percent to 540,921.

New York (45,087) led the way in numerical growth, followed by Los Angeles (30,294), San Antonio (24,394) and Phoenix (23,775). Other Texas cities in the top 10 were No. 7 Dallas (20,004), No. 8 Houston (19,743) and No. 9 Austin (19,183).

"Texas is the star of the Sun Belt," said demographer Bill Frey of the Brookings Institution. "It avoided the housing bubble, it attracts immigrants, it has high tech and low tech, and it's affordable. Texas has survived the downturn while the rest of the Sun Belt has slowed down.

"I think it's the economy. People are still coming to Texas because they need to," he said.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington was the fastest-growing metropolitan area, adding 146,530 residents last year for a total of 6,447,615. Since 2000, D-FW has added 1,286,071 people.

Among all cities with over 100,000 people, Frisco topped the list, with 203 percent growth from 2000 to 2009. McKinney was second at 135 percent, Round Rock seventh at 71.5 percent, Denton 13th at 48.5 percent and Fort Worth 25th at 33 percent.

"Steady growth will make Texas cities the big winners when the 2010 Census comes out next year," Frey said.

And when the economic climate improves, the Texas trend will only accelerate, he said.

"The forces bringing people to Texas are the forces that will be driving the recovery -- jobs, housing," he said.

"I think there will be even more people coming in when the economy bounces back. People around the country are frozen in place because they can't sell their house. And when they can, a lot of them will be moving to areas with stronger economies," Frey said.

Another factor in future growth, he said, will be the millions of baby-boomer retirees whose mobility has been slowed by the recession.

"They'll be on the move again, and they'll be looking for warm climates with affordable housing," Frey said.

He noted that the latest figures are only estimates and that the 2010 Census numbers will probably yield some surprises.

"The census is going to show the country at a standstill as far as mobility. But I think they will count a lot more Hispanics than we think there are, which will benefit Texas," Frey said.

The numbers are the last estimates for cities before the 2010 Census is completed this year. Data from that official head count will be used to redraw legislative boundaries and distribute more than $400 billion in federal aid.