San Antonio population still growing but lags behind others
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Bexar County and the San Antonio area continue to gain new residents rapidly, but the region is falling behind others in growth over time, new U.S. Census Bureau data shows.
Why it matters: Newcomers are shaping the future of San Antonio, affecting everything from our housing supply and prices to our economy.
By the numbers: The San Antonio metro area, which extends beyond Bexar County, added 135,473 new residents between July 2020 and July 2023, an increase of about 5.3%.
- That makes the region 16th in the nation for growth by percentage among metro areas with more than 500,000 people during that time, per an Axios analysis of Census data.
- The Austin and Dallas metro areas both ranked higher than San Antonio, with 7.5% and 5.7% growth, respectively.
- By that measure, metro areas in Florida blew Texas metros out of the water — Lakeland, Florida, grew by about 12% from 2020 to 2023.
Yes, but: By numeric growth in the short term, San Antonio still makes the list of the top 10 growing metro areas in the country, coming in at No. 9.
- The San Antonio-New Braunfels metro added 48,071 newcomers from July 2022 to July 2023, bringing the area's total to about 2.7 million residents.
- And Bexar County came in at No. 8 on the list of top 10 counties for numeric growth from 2022 to 2023.
How it works: The new data comes from the Census Bureau's annual Population Estimates Program, which estimates the population between censuses.
Zoom out: The U.S. overall saw population growth of about 1% from 2020 to 2023.