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Fort Worth growth outpaces Texas' other metro areas, Census says

Posted Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 0 comments  Print Reprints

Topics: Texas, Fort Worth

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Fort Worth grew by 38.6 percent to 741,206 residents in the last decade, far outpacing Texas' other metropolitan areas, according to new U.S. Census figures released today.

Tarrant County grew by 25.1 percent, to 1,809,34 residents, the figures show.

Here are the five most populous cities:

-- Houston: 2,099,451, 7.5 percent growth.

-- San Antonio: 1,327,407, 16 percent growth.

-- Dallas: 1,197,816, 6.7 percent growth.

-- Austin: 790,390, 20.4 percent growth.

-- Fort Worth: 741,206, 38.6 percent growth.

The state's largest county continues to be Harris, with a population of 4,092,459. Its population grew by 20.3 percent since 2000.

Here are the next four largest counties:

-- Dallas: 2,368,139, 6.7 percent growth.

-- Tarrant: 1,809,034, 25.1 percent growth.

-- Bexar: 1,714,773, 23.1 percent growth.

-- Travis: 1,024,266, 26.1 percent growth.

Texas' growth over the past decade was driven by Hispanics, who accounted for almost two-thirds of the state's increase of nearly 4.2 million people.

Hispanics now comprise 38 percent of the state's population. Non-Hispanic whites dropped to 45.3 percent and blacks comprise 11.5 percent, the data shows.

The new 2010 Census population totals zoom in on population counts for small areas and race, Hispanic origin, voting age and housing data.

In late December, the U.S. Census Bureau released overall numbers that showed Texas' population growing by more than 4.2 million people since 2000, a bigger increase than any other state.

The state's total swelled to 25,145,561, a 20.6 percent increase over the last decade.

"It has been a phenomenal run for Texas," said demographer Steve Murdock of Rice University, a former U.S. Census Bureau director. "Texas grew by nearly 4.3 million out of 17 million in the country; that's almost a quarter of the total growth of the nation."

By comparison, the United States population grew to 308,745,538, up 9.7 percent since 2000, the slowest growth rate since the Great Depression, census officials said.

A recession-based surge in out-of-state job seekers migrating to Texas has also increased the numbers, Murdock said.

The numbers released today show that growth is centered around four parts of the state: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston, San Antonio-Austin and the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley.

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