Which of the following is the strongest contributor to population growth in Texas?
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ROBERT ALLEN Show President and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Corporation (TxEDC). TxEDC’s mission is to promote Texas as the premier state to locate or expand the business and to offer insight and key resources to advisers and decision-makers. Follow Robert and TxEDC on Twitter at @GoBiginTexas.  July 5, 2022 Population growth in Texas’s big metro areas grabs so much of the attention when we think about population growth across the state. And in the recent past, growth in metro suburbs has generated a lot of buzz. But as a Texas native, I’d be doing a disservice if I overlooked growth in many of the state’s communities with smaller populations. “If you think about it, small towns have formed the identity of our great state,” says Chuck Harris, executive director of the Texas Exes, the alumni association at my alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin. These days, these booming communities of Texans might be the state’s best-kept secret. And it might surprise you how much these communities have grown in the past 10 years and how much they’re contributing to the Texas economy. MoveBuddha, a platform for consumers wanting to hire movers, recently did a deep dive into population trends in Texas. Among the many facets of our population, moveBuddha examined the 10-year growth rate of towns that had fewer than 10,000 residents in 2010. Not surprisingly, all of the small Texas towns experiencing the most explosive growth from 2010 to 2020 are in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metro areas:
Impressive numbers, right? So, why are the populations of these cities popping so much? As moveBuddha points out, people are settling in smaller communities situated in Texas’s large metro areas to take advantage of an attractive cost of living while still enjoying access to big-city amenities. This helps our economy by giving new arrivals and longtime residents a robust quality of life and proximity to metro-area jobs. Some of these fast-growing communities are helping drive the state’s economy in other ways, though:
As some folks bemoan what they perceive to be the fading of small-town Texas, it’s worth celebrating the small towns that are on the rise. And they’re not just on the outskirts of major metros. Some small towns in less-populated metro or micropolitan areas around the state and in rural swaths of Texas are enjoying economic progress. Case in point: The Walton Family Foundation in 2019 ranked three Texas micropolitan areas among the country’s 20 most dynamic micropolitan areas: Pecos topped the list, with Fredericksburg at No. 10 and Uvalde at No. 11. Pecos (about 75 miles southwest of Odessa) and Uvalde (almost 85 miles southwest of San Antonio) have benefited from oil-and-gas exploration, while Fredericksburg (roughly 80 miles west of Austin) draws thousands of Hill Country tourists each year. “As American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie, Main Street America — and its small towns — is a central component to understanding the economic forces at work across the United States,” the Walton Family Foundation observed. And if data from moveBuddha and other sources is any indication, a number of Texas’s small towns are an economic force to be reckoned with. Texas continues to have strong population growth in the second decade of the 21st century. This growth is from a robust and balanced combination of natural increase and net migration that pushed the state’s population to almost 28 million. For each year between 2010 and 2016, Texas has had the nation’s largest annual population growth. During this period, the state added about 211,000 people per year through natural increase. As for migration, Texas is a primary destination for both domestic and international migrants. Average annual net domestic migration between 2010 and 2016 was close to 140,000 while net international migration averaged around 82,000. The state’s major metropolitan statistical areas (Austin-Round Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, and San Antonio-New Braunfels) are leading areas of population growth in Texas. While these areas have high rates of natural increase, net migration is the dominant source of population growth in Texas’ metro areas. “The most likely reasons people relocate to Texas are its resilient economy and relatively affordable housing,” said Lloyd Potter, Texas state demographer at the University of Texas San Antonio. “Oil and gas production continues to be a major component in the state’s economy, but other sectors such as information technology, manufacturing and biomedicine are important sources of job growth.” Economic expansion in Texas began to slow when oil prices dropped in 2014. This slowdown coincided with 2015-2016 reductions in the sizes of both natural increase and net migration. This was especially evident in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area. Nonetheless, the 2015-2016 state population still grew by over 430,000. Texas has a relatively young population and this contributes to a relatively high crude birth rate. Consequently, it is likely that the state will continue to experience strong growth from natural increase into the near future. Migration recently has slowed but remains strong in spite of a slowdown in employment growth. It is likely, then, that population growth from migration also will continue into the near future, though perhaps at a slower pace. “The most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate a continuation of recent trends,” Potter said. “These trends will lead to increasing population concentration in the state’s major metropolitan areas.” The growth will come from both natural increase and net migration. Recent international migration data show that Texas immigrants are becoming more heterogeneous, arriving from a greater variety of nations than in the past. “We have observed a greater share of the state’s immigrants originating from Asian countries and a decreasing share from Latin American countries, especially Mexico,” Potter said. “With this, migration will not only increase the size of the state’s metro areas but also will lead to greater population diversity in these areas.” To learn more about the Texas State Data Center, please visit their website. For more state population trends, visit our State Data Center page. What is the largest factor in population growth in Texas?Natural increase is the primary source of Texas population growth, although it has declined somewhat in recent years — from nearly 213,600 additional residents in 2011 to about 175,900 in 2019 — according to Census Bureau estimates.
Which of the following is the largest factor in population growth in Texas quizlet?Three factors account for population growth in Texas, and while natural increases are still the largest factor, domestic immigration is an increasingly influential factor.
Why has the population of the state of Texas grown so quickly?So, why is Texas growing? Most importantly because it's home to a large Hispanic population which, despite recent declines, maintains much higher birth rates than the local white population. Second, because the state benefits from the warm weather that remains a high priority for many migrants, especially retirees.
What has been a result of population growth in Texas quizlet?What has led to the proliferation of special districts in Texas? Texas's rapid population growth and the accompanying expansion of urban sprawl have led to the proliferation of special districts in Texas.
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