By: Amelia Winger | From: San Antonio Express News

San Antonio’s population increased more than any other large U.S. city last year, gaining 22,000 residents even as other cities saw their populations plateau — or shrink — as families hightailed it to the suburbs, according to data released by the Census Bureau on Thursday. 

Three other Texas cities — Fort Worth, New Braunfels and Atascocita — also ranked among the top 10 cities nationwide with the greatest population gains from 2022 to 2023, though San Antonio netted at least 7,000 more residents than any of them.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey one-year estimates consist of data collected over the course of a single year in geographic areas with at least 65,000 people. The data takes into account everything from the area’s growth to its economic characteristics and housing stock.

San Antonio’s overall growth reflects a 1.5% population increase since 2022, eclipsing Houston, Dallas and Austin, which each saw their populations grow by less than 0.5% during that period.

Texas State Demographer Lloyd Potter said today’s San Antonio “feels different” than the city did a decade ago. 

Potter said several factors have led to San Antonio’s growth, from city leaders’ work to foster economic development to beefing up housing downtown to the growth of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s student body. As more companies set up shop within the city, San Antonio is becoming a magnet for skilled workers, he said. 

“​​Companies are recognizing that San Antonio is a great place to come and either bring their headquarters or bring a significant portion of their business,” Potter said. “People that generally are moving here tend to be people with higher levels of educational attainment and are working in jobs that are higher-skilled, higher-paid kinds of jobs.”

The proportion of San Antonio’s population over age 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree increased last year, going from 29% of the city’s population in 2022 to 31% in 2023.

San Antonio’s demographic composition in 2023 didn’t see dramatic changes over 2022. The city’s Hispanic and Latino population shrank by nearly 2,500 people, but people in those groups continued to account for nearly two-thirds of all city residents. Meanwhile, the city gained 19,539 non-Hispanic, non-Latino white residents, a 6% increase from the previous year. 

Overall, San Antonio’s population increase fell slightly short of the 1.6% growth rate recorded across the state. Even with this year’s influx of residents, the city’s population has declined by 2.4% over the past five years. 

It’s a trend demographers such as Potter have observed across the nation: Families are migrating from cities to suburbs en masse in pursuit of better homes and schools, among other factors.

“People might be working downtown or drawn to a metro area, but they don't want to live downtown,” Potter said. “They want to live out farther, and they then start doing the economic calculus related to all those things.”

San Antonio is no exception.  

The San Antonio metropolitan area, which includes the eight counties encompassing and surrounding the city, gained almost 50,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, a nearly 2% growth rate. It saw the 21st-highest population increase of any U.S. metro area, falling just shy of the 52,000-resident gain seen in the Austin metro area. The Houston metro area topped the nation, with an increase of 170,000 residents, while the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area had the fourth-highest increase, with 156,000 more residents.

In many parts of the state, the growth seen within cities and predominantly urban counties was fueled by international migration and natural change — births minus deaths in an area. However, Bexar County bucks this trend, with domestic migration — people moving here from other parts of the country — remaining the dominant factor, according to census data.

While Bexar County’s population gains were modest — the county added about 28,000 people, an increase of slightly more than 1% over its 2022 population — other counties within the San Antonio metro area experienced greater population growth.

Comal County especially ballooned over the past year. Gaining 9,000 residents, that county notched the fourth-highest growth rate among the 55 Texas counties for which the Census Bureau collected one-year data in 2022 and 2023.

Across the state, several metro areas had counties bordering cities experiencing population growth that far surpassed the urban nucleus. For example Kaufman County’s 7.7% growth rate — the highest among any of the evaluated counties in the state — far outpaced the 0.2% growth rate observed in neighboring Dallas County. Similarly, Liberty County grew by 6.6%, surpassing the 0.3% growth rate in Harris County, which encompasses Houston. 

In December, the Census Bureau is expected to release its American Community Survey five-year estimates, which account for jurisdictions with populations under 65,000.

Sam González Kelly contributed to this report.