Census: Texas counties continue to experience population growth

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(The Center Square) – Although population growth slowed in the majority of U.S. counties, Texas counties continued to report growth, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s  Vintage 2025 population estimates.

The report analyzed data from 3,143 counties and the District of Columbia between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025. It used current data on births, deaths and migration to calculate population change since the 2020 Census to produce an annual time series of population estimates. 

“Among some of the largest metro areas, the fastest-growing counties tended to be on the outer edges, a pattern especially pronounced in Texas,” the report notes.

Two of the 10 most populous counties in the country are in Texas: Harris and Dallas, where the state’s largest cities are located. 

Harris County remains the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the country. Its population increased from 4.4 million in 2020 to nearly 4.7 million as of last July, according to the data.

Dallas County’s population hovers around 2.6 million. The second most populous county in Texas and the eighth most populous county in the country, it was the only Texas county in the top 10 to report a population decline. The county lost more than 2,600 residents in the five-year-period analyzed. 

Of the top 10 counties in the country by numeric growth, five are in Texas: Harris, Collin, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Williamson.

The counties grew by between 4,000 to 10,000 people a year, according to the data. Over a period of five years, Harris County’s population grew by nearly 49,000; Collins’ by nearly 43,000; Montgomery’s by 30,000; Fort Bend’s by 24,000 and Williamson’s by nearly 24,000, according to the data. 

Of the 10 counties in the country with the most growth by percentage, four were in Texas: Waller, Kaufman, Liberty and Caldwell. Their populations grew by between four and six percent over five years, according to the data.

None of the top 10 counties in the country reporting population losses by percentage were in Texas, according to the data. 

Of the 3,143 counties analyzed nationwide, the 2,066 counties that reported population growth between 2023 and 2024 reported population declines last year. “Nearly 8 in 10 saw their growth slow or reverse direction,” the report states. “In many cases, counties already in decline saw losses accelerate.”

Population losses “were largely due to lower levels of net international migration (NIM), which declined nationwide,” it adds. Ninety percent of U.S. counties reported lower NIM levels from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, compared to the previous year during the height of the border crisis, according to the data.  

Nationwide, population growth “declined dramatically in metro areas … largely due to NIM reductions, especially since net domestic migration losses waned and natural increase had no noticeable change,” the report states. “Domestic migration patterns continue to redistribute the population from the largest counties to less populous ones.”

The majority of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas also reported population losses, 310 out of 387, according to the data. The top three reporting the most population losses were in border communities that saw record illegal border crossings during the Biden administration: Laredo, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and El Centro, California.