By Daniel Salazar Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal
Texas added more people than any other state from 2016 to 2017, according to national and state population data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017, the Texas population increased by nearly 400,000 people, No. 1 nationwide. The Lone Star State's population was about 28.3 million at that time.
That 1.4 percent growth rate was the seventh-fastest in the U.S. in terms of percentage growth.
Because of its time frame, the data doesn't reflect Hurricane Harvey's impact on Texas and other Gulf Coast states or other hurricanes' impacts on Florida, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
The Texas population grew naturally by about 210,000 people from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017. Births outpaced deaths by more than a two-to-one ratio, which was robust compared to most other places.
Texas also saw net migration of about 190,000 people. About 58 percent of that growth came through international migration, while the remainder of the new residents came from other states.
The Census Bureau reported that the South and the West continue to lead the country in population growth. Eight states, most of them in the North, decreased in population. Puerto Rico also saw a declining population through this July.
The total U.S. population grew by 2.3 million between July 2016 and July 2017 to 325.7 million.
While net international migration declined for the first time since 2012-2013, it remains a significant part of the nation's total growth, the Census Bureau said in a statement.
Idaho and Nevada led the nation as the fastest-growing states, with both states' populations growing at or above 2 percent primarily through domestic migration.
The bureau typically releases county and metro-area data in the first half of the year. This March, those figures showed the Austin region grew at a breakneck pace of about 159 people per day from 2015 to 2016.
The latest edition of the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program for cities and towns, released this May, drilled down further, showing that growth is booming in Austin's suburban fringes while slowing in its metropolitan core.
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