Tarrant is now home to more than 2 million

Tarrant County’s population passed a significant milestone last year, topping the 2 million mark.

We’re still the third-largest county in Texas.

Tarrant gained 35,462 residents in the year that ended July 1, and its population hit 2,016,872, estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The county’s numerical growth was second in Texas only to that of Harris County (Houston), which added 56,587 residents for a total population of 4,589,928.

Bexar County (San Antonio) was not far behind Tarrant, adding 33,198 residents to total 1,928,680.

During the same period, Dallas County added 29,209 residents, third-largest numerical growth for the state. The Census Bureau estimated Dallas County’s total population at 2,574,984.

While Texas’ cities continued to grow, its suburban areas grew even faster.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land added more people than any other metro areas in the nation, both increasing by more than 100,000 residents.

Meanwhile, eight counties surrounding us — Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Parker and Wise — added almost 270,000 people.

Troubled economies meant counties surrounding some big U.S. cities — Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland — saw population declines.

Growth and a healthy economy are far better.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Tarrant is now home to more than 2 million."