Texas grew by nearly half million people in past year. Could it surpass California soon?
Texas experienced the most population growth in the nation this past year, adding 473,453 residents, according to new population estimates released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Between 2022 and 2023, the population grew by 1.6%, bringing the total population to 30.5 million as of July 1. That’s the highest percent growth after the two fastest-growing states South Carolina and Florida. Texas is the second most populous state after California.
Notably, the South drove the nation’s population growth, accounting for 87% of growth in 2023. The region added over 1.4 million residents for a total population of 130.1 million.
“The South is the only region to have maintained population growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report says. “The growth in 2023 can largely be attributed to the region’s migration patterns as 706,266 people were added via net domestic migration, while net international migration contributed almost 500,000 to the total.”
Growth is no longer concentrated in only a few states, the numbers show. Four southern states — Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia — accounted for 93% of the nation’s population growth in 2022, but only 67% in 2023.
Texas is among the nation’s fastest-growing, largest-gaining states. Texas gained 9 million more residents than any other state between 2000 and 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s state-level statistics on geographic mobility released on Oct. 19.
