Our region just keeps getting bigger

A few weeks ago, the US Census Bureau released a trove of data from the 2020 Census. This data will largely be used for congressional gerrymandering redistricting, but it's also an all-important first look at the 2020 Census at the county and local level.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council has processed this data for the thirteen-county region encompassing the Houston metropolitan area (a summary presentation is here). I've gleaned through some of the data to provide some top-level information. The bottom line: we're growing. Especially in the suburbs. We're also becoming more diverse.

As of 2020, the 13-county region contained 7.3 million people, which is about the same population as the nations of Paraguay or Laos. This is an addition of over 1.2 million people over the last decade, which represents an almost a 20% growth rate. Here's the breakdown by county:

County 2020 Census 2010 Census Growth and Rate

Harris   4,731,145   4,092,459 638,686  15.6%

Fort Bend     822,779     585,375 237,404  40.6%

Montgomery     620,443     455,746 164,697  36.1%

Brazoria     372,031     313,166   58,865  18.8%

Galveston     350,682     291,309   59,373  20.4%

Liberty      91,628      75,643   15,985  21.1%

Walker      76,400      67,861    8,539  12.6%

Waller      56,794      43,205   13,589  31.5%

Chambers      46,571      35,096   11,475  32.7%

Wharton      41,570      41,280      290   0.7%

Matagorda      36,255      36,702     -447  -1.2%

Austin      30,167      28,417    1,750   6.2%

Colorado      20,557      20,874     -317  -1.5%

13 County Total   7,297,022   6,087,133    1,209,889  19.9%

Harris County, where Houston is located, saw the most growth in absolute terms, adding almost 639 thousand people over the 2010s. Fort Bend County saw the largest growth in percentage terms at 40.6%, closely followed by Montgomery County with 36.1% growth. Brazoria and Galveston Counties experienced growth that was a bit more modest but still substantial, gaining almost 60 thousand residents apiece. On the other end of the spectrum, rural Matagorda and Colorado Counties lost population, while Wharton County stagnated.

This map shows the general pattern of population change in the region over the last decade. Red and orange squares gained the most residents, while blue squares experienced less growth or even population loss:

                                                                                                                                               Houston-Galveston Area Council

It should come as no surprise that the region's growth is occurring largely in the suburbs; although it's hard to see highways on the above map, fully half of the region's growth occurred in the area between Beltway 8 and the Grand Parkway. Only 4% of the growth occurred inside Loop 610.  

H-GAC also breaks the data down by cities and places. Here is a table of cities or places with a population of at least 25,000 in 2020:

Municipality or CDP   2020 Census   2010 Census   Growth and Rate   County 

 1. Houston             2,304,580     2,099,451     205,129  9.8%   Harris 

 2. Pasadena              151,950       149,043       2,907  2.0%   Harris 

 3. Pearland              125,828        91,252      34,576 37.9%   Brazoria 

 4. The Woodlands Twnshp  114,436        93,847      20,589 21.9%   Montgomery 

 5. League City           114,392        83,560      30,832 36.9%   Galveston 

 6. Sugar Land            111,026        78,817      32,209 40.9%   Fort Bend 

 7. Conroe                 89,956        56,207      33,749 60.0%   Montgomery 

 8. Atascocita CDP         88,174        65,844      22,330 33.9%   Harris 

 9. Baytown                83,701        71,802      11,899 16.6%   Harris 

10. Missouri City          74,259        67,358       6,901 10.2%   Fort Bend 

11. Spring CDP             62,559        54,298       8,261 15.2%   Harris

12. Galveston              53,695        47,743       5,952 12.5%   Galveston 

13. Texas City             51,898        45,099       6,799 15.1%   Galveston 

14. Huntsville             45,941        38,548       7,393 19.2%   Walker 

15. Channelview CDP        45,688        38,289       7,399 19.3%   Harris 

16. Friendswood            41,213        35,805       5,408 15.1%   Galveston 

17. Rosenberg              38,282        30,618       7,664 25.0%   Fort Bend 

18. Mission Bend CDP       36,914        36,501         413  1.1%   Harris/Fort Bend 

19. La Porte               35,124        33,800       1,324  3.9%   Harris 

20. Deer Park              34,495        32,010       2,485  7.8%   Harris 

21. Lake Jackson           28,177        26,849       1,328  4.9%   Brazoria 

22. Alvin                  27,098        24,236       2,862 11.8%   Brazoria

A "CDP", or "Census-Designated Place, is an unincorporated community (while The Woodlands is a semi-incorporated "Township"). Houston is still the nation's fourth-largest municipality; it did gain on Chicago over the past ten years but there's still a ways to go before Space City overtakes the Windy City. 

Once again, the gains of suburban communities are evident. In 2010, Pasadena was the only city in the region (other than Houston) to contain over one hundred thousand residents. In the ten years since, it’s been joined by Pearland, The Woodlands, League City and Sugar Land. All four of these communities are located just outside of Harris County. 

The large growth rates in Conroe and Sugar Land can be at least partially attributed to annexation, before the legislature essentially disallowed it. Sugar Land annexed New Territory over the last decade, while Conroe annexed communities in Lake Conroe and down towards The Woodlands. 

Galveston’s population, which fell below 50,000 in 2010 due to the effects of Hurricane Ike, has made something of a recovery. Atascocita and Spring are the region's largest unincorporated communities (again: suburban communities between the Beltway and the Grand Parkway).

Finally, the region is growing more diverse: 

                                                                                                                       Houston-Galveston Area Council

As was the case in 2010, no one ethnic group constitutes a majority population within the region, although between 2010 and 2020 the Hispanic population surpassed the White population as the region's largest ethnic group. The region's Asian population grew by almost two percentage points, while the region's Black population percentage remained about the same.  The percentage of residents considering themselves of Other ethnicity (including mixed races) doubled. 

Put another way, between 2010 and 2020 the region added almost 580 thousand Hispanic residents, almost 218 thousand Black residents, about 207.5 thousand Asian residents, almost 160 thousand residents of Mixed or Other ethnicities, and almost 60 thousand White residents. 

No single ethnicity accounts for more than 37.3 percent of the population today, down from 39.9% ten years ago. Fort Bend County is one of the most ethnically-diverse counties in the United States: it is 29.6% White, 24% Hispanic, 22% Asian, and 20% Black.

For more information about these 2020 Census numbers (including additional data and interactive maps) check out H-GAC's 2020 Census Redistricting Data Tool. A hat tip to H-GAC's Pramod Sambidi and his Socioeconomic Modeling group for processing this data so quickly.

(Obligatory "in the interests of full disclosure, I am an H-GAC employee" disclaimer here.)