Texas tops nation's population growth

[musicman]

Step aside California. Texas is now the state with the biggest growth in population.

Booming cities in the Lone Star state dominated the latest population estimates for cities as of July, 1, 2006, released by the census today. Six Texas cities were in the top 25 in the U.S, and three, including Houston, were in the top 10, with San Antonio the seventh-largest and Dallas the ninth.

Phoenix shouldered past Philadelphia to become the nation's fifth-largest city, but, not to worry, Houston's perch at No. 4 remains secure.

Nineteen Texas cities, or nearly 20 percent, were among the top 100 fastest-growing cities with populations of at least 100,000 between 2000 and July 1, 2006. McKinney, north of Dallas, ranked No. 1 on that list, nearly doubling its population.

As of July 1, 2006, Texas edged out California as the state with the largest population growth, gaining 2.7 million people since 2000 while California gained 2.6 million. In that time period, Texas grew at a 12.7 percent rate, compared with California's 8 percent.

Houston grew from 1.98 million to 2.14 million in the same period.

Also confirmed was booming growth in suburban areas, including those around Houston.

Katy has nearly doubled, from 6,490 in 2000 to about 13,600 in July 2006. Sugar Land has jumped from 63,328 people to nearly 80,000 over the same period. Pearland also registered robust growth, from 36,640 people to more than 68,000.

full story