While the latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows the population for Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston soared faster over a one-year period than any other in the country, population decreased in 15 of the 21 counties in the Big Country from 2010 to 2012.
Taylor County had the biggest population increase, jumping from 131,506 in 2010 to an estimated 133,473 in 2012. Erath County had the biggest percentage increase at 3.8 percent. Taylor County population went up 1.5 percent.
Experiencing the biggest percentage Big Country decrease was Fisher County with a dip of 3.3 percent.
Meanwhile, only Wichita Falls -- with a drop of 0.4 percent -- dwindled in population among the state's metropolitan areas between 2010 and 2012. Abilene grew from an estimated 165,578 to 166,963, a nearly 1 percent increase.
Additionally, census estimates revealed nearly 132,000 people were added to the Metroplex from July 2011 to July 2012. Since April 2010 the region's population has grown by nearly 275,000 people.
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area added more than 125,000 people for the one-year period ending in July. Harris County, which constitutes a large part of that area, grew by 80,000 people, more than any other county in the nation.
But it's a different matter in rural counties. In all, 96 of Texas' 254 counties lost population from the 2010 census to July 2012.
Below is a chart showing population figures for the Big Country:
2010 | 2012 | 2012 vs 2010 | % | |
Brown | 38,106 | 37,825 | -281 | -0.7% |
Callahan | 13,544 | 13,517 | -27 | -0.2% |
Coke | 3,320 | 3,231 | -89 | -2.7% |
Coleman | 8,895 | 8,675 | -220 | -2.5% |
Comanche | 13,974 | 13,765 | -209 | -1.5% |
Eastland | 18,583 | 18,421 | -162 | -0.9% |
Erath | 37,890 | 39,321 | 1,431 | 3.8% |
Fisher | 3,974 | 3,844 | -130 | -3.3% |
Haskell | 5,899 | 5,901 | 2 | 0.0% |
Jones | 20,202 | 19,973 | -229 | -1.1% |
Kent | 808 | 839 | 31 | 3.8% |
Knox | 3,719 | 3,789 | 70 | 1.9% |
Mitchell | 9,403 | 9,336 | -67 | -0.7% |
Nolan | 15,216 | 14,924 | -292 | -1.9% |
Runnels | 10,501 | 10,449 | -52 | -0.5% |
Scurry | 16,921 | 17,126 | 205 | 1.2% |
Shackelford | 3,378 | 3,356 | -22 | -0.7% |
Stephens | 9,630 | 9,464 | -166 | -1.7% |
Stonewall | 1,490 | 1,475 | -15 | -0.01 |
Taylor | 131,506 | 133,473 | 1,967 | 1.5% |
Throckmorton | 1,641 | 1,601 | -40 | -2.4% |
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau
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Metropolitan areas |
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2010 | 2012 | 2012 vs 2010 | ||
Abilene | 165,578 | 166,963 | 1,385 | 0.8% |
Amarillo | 252,686 | 257,578 | 4,892 | 1.9% |
Austin-Round Rock | 1,727,661 | 1,834,303 | 106,642 | 6.2% |
Beaumont-Port Arthur | 403,562 | 404,180 | 618 | 0.2% |
Brownsville-Harlingen | 407,656 | 415,557 | 7,901 | 1.9% |
College Station-Bryan | 229,483 | 234,501 | 5,018 | 2.2% |
Corpus Christi | 428,050 | 437,109 | 9,059 | 2.1% |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 6,452,764 | 6,700,991 | 248,227 | 3.8% |
.Dallas-Plano-Irving | 4,248,860 | 4,426,611 | 177,751 | 4.2% |
.Fort Worth-Arlington | 2,203,904 | 2,274,380 | 70,476 | 3.2% |
El Paso | 806,981 | 830,735 | 23,754 | 2.9% |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | 5,948,300 | 6,177,035 | 228,735 | 3.8% |
Killeen-Temple | 408,221 | 420,375 | 12,154 | 3.0% |
Laredo | 251,284 | 259,172 | 7,888 | 3.1% |
Longview | 214,586 | 216,679 | 2,093 | 1.0% |
Lubbock | 292,142 | 297,669 | 5,527 | 1.9% |
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | 779,203 | 806,552 | 27,349 | 3.5% |
Midland | 141,757 | 151,662 | 9,905 | 7.0% |
Odessa | 137,056 | 144,325 | 7,269 | 5.3% |
San Angelo | 112,241 | 114,854 | 2,613 | 2.3% |
San Antonio-New Braunfels | 2,153,140 | 2,234,003 | 80,863 | 3.8% |
Sherman-Denison | 121,060 | 121,935 | 875 | 0.7% |
Wichita Falls | 151,428 | 150,829 | -599 | -0.4% |
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau
