Austin drops in ranking as No. 1 fastest growing large metro, per US Census

Consistent data from the past 12 years showed the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was the country’s fastest-growing large metro area. However, now the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area has taken its place and the MSA has gone down several spots.

Estimates from the Census show that the metro had a growth rate of 2.1%, adding more than 50,000 residents between 2022 and 2023. The metro saw the seventh-largest increase in population from 2022 to 2023, putting MSA at 26th for the most populous metro area in the country.

The City of Austin told KVUE this slower growth rate for the region is due to historically low domestic migration, or the number of people moving into the metro area from other parts of Texas and U.S. states. The city added that even though international migration was the highest it’s been in the past decade, domestic migration has been the lowest in the same amount of time which has led to an overall slower growth rate for the MSA metro. 

“Growth and innovation are part of Austin’s fabric, our story,” The city told MySA. “But we want to grow in a way that doesn’t exacerbate the issues we – and other fast-growing metros – face like sprawl, traffic, affordability and environmental concerns. Those are issues City leaders, including our Mayor and City Council, are hard at work addressing. From that lens, second place doesn’t look too bad.”

As estimates showed more people moving out than coming into Williamson, Travis, and Hays counties from 2022 to 2023, they all reported lower net migration, according to the city. Yet the steepest declines were in Travis, which is the main county for the City of Austin.

Out of all the counties in the Austin MSA region, only Williamson made the list for one of the fastest growing counties and top 10 in the U.S. for total numeric change. Tech companies like Tesla and Samsung have boosted smaller towns’ economies in Williamson County like Hutto and Taylor, creating more jobs while still being in close proximity to Austin.