What the Latest Stats From the 2020 Census Tell Us About Austin

Slowly but surely, the 2020 US Census data from 2020 is being released.  Although these stats are not perfect, they were obtained during the pandemic after all, they do give us some insights as to what’s happening in the ATX.  There weren’t too many surprises, spoiler alert: the greater Austin area is growing rapidly in case you hadn’t noticed.  But, the official count for the City of Austin population did fall slightly shorter than expected with an estimated 961,855 people residing in the capital of the lone star state. Officially, this makes Austin the 11th most populous city in the United States.


While the population for residents within the city limits has increased slightly over 20% over the past ten years, many of you may be thinking “that’s it”.  I know, that number feels low to me too, and the truth is, the population of Austin as we know it is about way more than just those living in the city limits.  Residents of Sunset Valley, Westlake Hills, Pfluggerville, Leander and many other adjacent areas make up what we think of as Austinites.  According to the latest census stats the Austin-Round Rock metro area is the fastest growing metro area in Texas.


At the county level, we saw significant increases in population levels throughout Central Texas.  Hays County which encompasses Dripping Springs, Buda, Kyle, San Marcos and Kimberly was the fastest growing county in the state.  Since 2010, Hays saw more than a 50% increase in residents over the past ten years with the population now nearly a quarter of a million people.  In Travis County, the census showed a population of 1,290,188 people for 2020 and Williamson County is home to over 600,000 people. Together, these stats show what everyone who’s ever sat in traffic on I-35 knows is true - there are way more than one million Austinites.