Texas’ population grew by the largest number of any state in the period of July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016, adding 432,957 people, according to the most recent United States Census Bureau population estimates. The state’s population reached 27.86 million from the growth. Texas’ increase of 432,957 people was more than 60,000 above the number two spot, Florida.
Growth in population generally is seen as a positive sign for real estate markets, as population increases historically coincide with real estate market growth.
As a percentage of population, Texas’ population growth was tenth in the nation at 1.58 percent. The fastest growing state in the U.S. as a percentage was Utah, which grew 2.03 percent to 3,051,217 people.
Texas’ growth was a trend found in the South and West of the U.S. “In 2016, 37.9 percent of the nation’s population lived in the South and 23.7 percent lived in the West,” said Chief of the Population Estimates Branch Ben Bolender. “States in the South and West continued to lead in population growth.”
The U.S. population as a whole grew 0.7 percent to 323.1 million.
Eight states lost population during this time period. Illinois lost the most people, with a decline of 37,508. Pennsylvania, New York, and Wyoming also had losses in population. Percentage-wise, following Utah’s growth, the states with the next biggest increases were Nevada (2.0 percent,) Idaho (1.8 percent,) Florida (1.8 percent,) and Washington (1.8 percent.)
The five most populous states, in order, are California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois.
Read more at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.