Waller County, near Houston, was the second fastest growing county in the U.S. Another three Texas counties were among the 10 fastest growing in U.S.
Population growth in Texas is slowing amid a decline in immigration — but the state’s suburbs continue to boom and lead the nation in adding new residents.
Texas’ population, now over 31 million, grew by 391,243 or 1.2% between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, census data released Thursday show.
Much of the state’s growth in recent years has been in the suburbs outside Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Growth in the state’s most populous cities has started to slow, or in the case of Dallas County, decline.
Lloyd Potter, the state demographer, said a 45% decline in residents from abroad is hindering the once-rapid growth in the state’s urban areas, especially as people continue to move to the suburbs.
“A lot of urban areas grew rapidly after the pandemic due to international immigration and the flow of refugees at the U.S-Mexico border,” he said. “Now, under the current administration, it has slowed to a trickle, having an impact on the growth rate in these regions.”
The slowing of international migration appeared to hit Laredo the hardest. That metro area along the border saw the steepest percentage point decline in population growth rates in the country. Between 2023 and 2024, the metro area grew by 3.2%. Growth stalled between 2024 and 2025, with just a 0.2% increase in population.
Meanwhile, Waller County, northeast of Houston, was the fastest-growing county in the state and the second-fastest-growing county in the U.S. during the reporting period. The county’s population grew by 5.7% — just behind Jasper County in South Carolina. The number of people living in Waller County has grown by more than 13,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, going from 56,769 to 69,858.
Vince Yokom, executive director of the Waller County Economic Development Partnership, said proximity to one of the largest cities in the country and an economic development plan that has been in the works for over a decade are key pieces to their growth.
“I believe a lot of it has to do with the availability of the land and the amount needed for home and infrastructure development, and Waller County has plenty of it,” he said. “We also added 9,000 plus jobs to the community, with it now getting closer to 10,000.”
Waller County Judge Trey Duhon also credited the region’s highway access to Houston, Austin, and College Station for making it a hot spot for national and international companies.
“I think a lot of people are dealing with what I call the COVID effect, where they want a little bit more elbow room and a little more space and less density, and Waller County offers that,” he said.
The Census notes the fastest-growing counties across the country tend to be on the outer edges or in the suburbs of urban regions, with this being especially pronounced in Texas.
Of the 10 counties that grew the fastest nationwide between 2024 and 2025, four were in Texas: Waller, Kaufman, Liberty, and Caldwell counties. Georgia was the only other state with multiple counties in the top 10, with three.
Potter said that more housing options, cheaper land, a better quality of life for families, and the flexibility to work from home are driving this migration to the suburbs.
Dallas County, the state’s second most populous county, ranked ninth in the country for numeric decline, with 2,616 more residents leaving the county than moving there between 2024 and 2025. The county’s population loss stands in stark contrast to the rest of the metro region, which also includes Fort Worth, which continues to grow at a steady clip.
“Our own analysis found people are moving to the communities around Dallas County,” Potter said. “This has been happening for a while, as the housing options in these urban areas are limited, making options to live either expensive or substandard.”
The state’s metro regions had fewer international migrants enter the state from July 2024 through June 2025 than in prior years, but the total remains positive at 167,475, the second-highest in the nation.
The state’s major urban areas are still adding hundreds of thousands of residents, just at a slower clip than previous years. The Houston metropolitan region’s population grew by 126,720 people between 2024 and 2025, the largest numerical increase among U.S. metro areas. The Dallas-Fort Worth region came in just behind Houston with 123,557 new residents.
Harris County, the state’s most populous urban county, added 48,695 residents from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, seeing the largest amount of new people among U.S. counties. Collin County grew by nearly 43,000 people in that same time frame, seeing the second-largest amount of new residents among U.S. counties. Montgomery, Fort Bend, and Williamson counties rounded out the top 10.
Potter said Texas is uniquely positioned, given the current population of the state, to avoid a significant decline in its major metropolitan areas even if international immigration continues to decline.
“The amount of family creation will prevent that, even as we see birth rates decline,” Potter said. “If it is possible, the one county that might see a decline is Dallas County, based on what we are seeing.”
Source: Stephen Simpson,
Photo Credit: The sun sets behind downtown Nov. 9, 2025, in Houston. Waller County, just northeast of Houston, was the fastest-growing county in the state and the second-fastest-growing county in the country between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025. Jon Shapley for The Texas Tribune
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