City Demographer Reports Number of Migrants in 2016 Exceeded Official Estimates

Recent estimates published by the U.S. Census Bureau that released new county and metro-area population estimates for Austin reports that the capital of Texas added 159 people per day, on average, in the past year.

The report indicates that there were 40,273 migrants, 27,735 births, and 10,304 deaths in Austin in 2016. Taking into account certain statistical adjustments, the regional population climbed by 58,301 to an estimated 2,056,405.

The federal agency released this week July 2016 population estimates for 382 metros and 3,142 counties across the nation. Eleven major metropolitan areas, led by the Texas duo of Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, are growing at a pace of more than 1,000 persons per week.

When just looking at migrants, about 110 people per day moved to the Austin area from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016 — largely because so many jobs are being added across all sectors, principally technology. The influx is the primary reason why affordability is such a problem. Put simply, homebuilders can't keep upwith this demand.

The Austin metro — which includes Travis, Hays, Williamson, Burnet and Caldwell counties — expanded by 2.9 percent, according to the Census. While that's the ninth-fastest rate of growth among U.S. metro areas, Austin is the fastest-growing metro of its size.

The Villages north of Orlando, Florida, grew fastest nationwide — up 4.3 percent to 123,996 residents.

"An annual population growth rate of 2.9 percent puts us slightly ahead of where I thought we'd be along a trajectory taking Austin to the 3 million population mark by 2030," city of Austin demographer Ryan Robinson said in a statement. Robinson is the city official — surrounded by maps and books of data — who forecasts and analyzes Austin's population trends. "Austin's enormous population growth continues to be driven mainly by in-migrating households drawn here by sustained, robust job creation and a high quality of life. I keep looking for the crest of this huge wave of growth we're riding and I just don't see it yet, especially in light of these new data which strongly suggest we are still Boomtown, USA."

Do you want to know more fun Austin facts? You can access the article published by the Austin Business Journal from which this post was based, or check out our blog for more fact sheets, news, and updates.

Post a Comment