Texas added more new residents than any other state over the past year and now has a population of over 31 million people.

According to estimates released Dec. 19 by the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas added just under 563,000 new residents between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024.

Florida came in second, adding 467,000 new residents over the 12-month period, and California came in third, adding 233,000. 

The new figures indicate Texas is still in the midst of a population boom, with the state adding over 2 million new residents since 2020 when the last official decennial census took place. It’s now estimated that Texas has 31.29 million residents, up from the 2020 count of 29.15 million.

Despite the influx, Texas remains the second-most populous state. California is No. 1, with 39.4 million people.

But Texas also ranked as the top state in the nation for domestic migration and natural increases over the past year. The state added 85,000 new residents who moved from elsewhere in the United States, and it saw a natural increase — meaning births that outnumbered deaths — of just under 159,000.In terms of percentage population gains, Texas was near the top but wasn't the leader. Florida took No. 1 among states with a 2% growth rate, while Texas tied with Utah for the second-fastest growth rate, at 1.8%. The District of Columbia was the fastest-growing area in the United States, gaining 2.2%.

Overall, the U.S. grew by 1% over the 12-month period and added 3.3 million new residents, 84% of which was due to international migration.

It's not clear how much Austin and Central Texas' population grew during the period because metro-level data hasn't been released. The Census Bureau said it expects to publish more localized figures in March.

Earlier this year, Census Bureau data indicated that the bulk of population growth in the Austin metro was taking place in the suburbs, with about eight out of every 10 people added to the region during a recent 12-month period settling outside of Travis County. Most newcomers come from other parts of Texas.

Overall, the five-county metro added more than 50,000 people between July 2022 and July 2023, according to the census data, a 2% increase that brought the Austin area population to 2.47 million. That makes Austin the 26th-largest metro in the United States, according to the city. Before the pandemic, the Austin metro was No. 33.

Still, Travis was the only county in the metro to have negative net migration. About 2,400 more people moved out of Travis County in 2023 than moved into it, a figure offset by a natural increase of nearly 10,000.

Original Aritcle By Sean Hemmersmeier, ABJ