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Texas population growing faster than any other state

Posted at 5:21 PM, Jan 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-13 16:50:10-05

The population of the state of Texas is growing faster than any other state, a state demographer said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau report, nearly 400,000 more people became Texans in 2017. That equals out to about 1,000 people per day.

A majority of that is attributed to newborns, but the other half is people moving to the state.

Across Central Texas, you can see the growth from construction, new businesses, new housing developments and more jobs popping up.

"There's kind of a lot more opportunity here," Matt Pafford, who moved to Texas a few weeks ago, said. 

He and his wife Shelby moved to Texas from California.

"[Texas] didn't have any state income tax which was a huge draw. The economy here was a lot better than it was in California where we were," Matt said.

Shelby commutes every day from Burleson to Waco for work. It's an hour drive without traffic and that doesn't seem to bother her. 

"To me I'm like this is great! I put on my music, I have my morning coffee and I just drive," Shelby said. "Previous jobs I worked in Los Angeles it took me like an hour to go ten miles so it's like at least I'm moving. For me it's like a snap because you're actually moving."

It only took the Pafford's a few days to find jobs in Texas, which was another reason they made the move.

State Demographer Lloyd Potter said population across the state is growing, but the rate is starting to slow down. A large percentage of the growth from 2017 is from newborns. Potter said fewer people are moving to Texas than compared to years past, but they are still seeing plenty of growth throughout the state and expect it to continue.

In the next few months, the U.S. Census Bureau will release more information on population growth broken down by cities and counties.

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