Fort Worth bumps Austin to become fourth-largest city in Texas according to new population data.
Chron.com
By Allyson Ackerman, News Editor
Dec 23, 2024
The city of Austin, Texas can mean many different things to many people.
To some, it is the promised land. To others, it is an overcrowded, over-priced, formerly-hot city. But one thing it is not is the fourth largest city in Texas. The capital of the Lone State State has been knocked down a peg among the state's most populous cities, according to 2023 data released in November.
The Texas Demographic Center's 2023 Population Estimates Report, which included population figures for Texas counties and communities for July 1, 2023 and Jan.1, 2024, showed a shift in the top four largest cities in the state. Austin, long-regarded as one of the desirable cities in the U.S., has been taken down, and relegated to the No. 5 spot on the list.
The No. 4 most populous city in Texas spot now goes to Fort Worth, Texas, edging out Austin by a slight margin.
The report estimates that Fort Worth had a population count of 989,878 people for Jan. 1, 2024, marking a 7.7-percent increase from the city's 2020 Census data.
Not only did Fort Worth surpass Austin in statewide population rankings, but estimates found the North Texas city is seeing a higher percentage of population growth compared to Texas' largest communities.
Houston took the No. 1 spot, with an estimated population of 2,318,657 people as of Jan. 1, 2024—up 0.6 percent compared to 2020. San Antonio, ranked No. 2 statewide, saw a sharp 4.3 percent increase in its population between 2020 and 2024, with an estimated 1,496, 876 residents as of Jan. 1, 2024. Rounding out the top 3 is Dallas with a Jan. 1, 2024 population estimate of 1,308,404 residents. Its estimated population grew 0.3 percent since the 2020 Census count when Dallas had about 1,304,379 residents.
Austin has consistently been tapped as a top place to live in the U.S., but according to recent reports, it also seems to be one of the top cities people are leaving this year. PODS, a moving and storage company, unveiled its annual moving trends report and ranked Austin No. 5 for cities with the highest number of move-outs in 2024. People swarmed to Austin post-Covid, for the relatively low cost of living compared to major cities like New York and Los Angeles.
However, over time, as more people moved to Austin, the city's home prices skyrocketed.
