Texas urban areas continue to grow; Coryell cities decline in population

Tierra Grande magazine recently carried a column by state demographer Steve H. Murdock on population trends in Texas.

The researcher reported the state had a larger numerical increase from 2000 to 2006 -- 2.7 million new residents -- than any other state and a growth rate of 12.7 percent. That rate is nearly double the nation's 6.4 percent growth statistic.

Based on this data, Murdock predicts Texas will reach a total population of more than 25 million by 2010.

This remarkable growth has fueled the real estate market, particularly in urban and suburban areas, he said.

Texas cities remain among the most rapidly growing markets in the nation, as the state has three of the country's 10 largest cities (Houston, San Antonio and Dallas) and five of the 10 cities (San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and Dallas) with the largest numerical increases from 2005 to 2006, reported Murdock.

The demographer noted, however, that the largest numerical declines from 2005 to 2006, were shown in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Copperas Cove and Gatesville.

In percentage terms, the fastestgrowing places from 2000 to 2006 were Hutto (in Williamson County, 666 percent), Fate (in Rockwall County, the nation's fastest-growing county, at 645 percent), Little Elm (in Denton County, 484 percent), Murphy (Colin County, at 313 percent) and Kyle (Hays County, at 289 percent).

Places with the largest percentage declines tend to be in the Panhandle and West Texas regions and include Aspermont -- with a decrease of nearly 17 percent -- and Morton, Pecos and Whiteface, each of which showed a population decrease of about 15 percent.

Editor's note: Local realtor Harold Harton supplied this information to the Dispatch Record.