Census Shows Growth in Austin-San Antonio Corridor

U.S.|The growth along the corridor between San Antonio and Austin is ‘kind of mind-blowing.’

• Aug. 12, 2021, 3:12 p.m. ET

SAN ANTONIO — Not too long ago, the span of Interstate 35 in Texas linking San Antonio and Austin ran through a smattering of smaller cities and lots of wide-open land. Now, it’s a blur of subdivisions, commercial development and soul-crushing traffic, coalescing into a singular mass of population.

As the U.S. Census Bureau released its decennial counts on Thursday, officials confirmed what has long been plainly visible in that stretch of Central and South Texas: Many new people were moving in.

“It is kind of mind-blowing,” said Travis Mitchell, the mayor of Kyle, a bedroom community outside Austin that is one of those fast-growing cities along the interstate. “With growth comes extreme challenges.”

Census officials specifically pointed out New Braunfels, a suburb north of San Antonio, as an example of cities perched just outside large metropolitan hubs that had experienced some of the most significant growth, with their populations expanding by at least 44 percent. There were two others in Texas: McKinney, outside of Dallas, and Conroe, which had been enveloped by the sprawling Houston metropolitan area.

The growth has, in some ways, symbolized the promise of opportunity, economic and otherwise, that has been part of the state’s sales pitch to draw outsiders, particularly from California and New York.

But it has also come with excruciating growing pains, as constant traffic jams have underscored the strain on infrastructure and surging home prices have boxed out longtime residents.

The problem had intensified to the point that Austin hired a community displacement prevention officer in April, as city officials recognized that Black and Hispanic residents had been among those most punished by the impacts of gentrification.

The populations swelled in the state’s metropolitan hubs, like Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, and the Midland and Odessa area of the Permian Basin of West Texas. Houston gained more than 200,000 new residents, an increase of nearly 10 percent.

Growth has been fueled by a large influx of Hispanic and African Americans. The size of the Latino population in Texas was just 0.4 percentage points behind that of the Anglo population, which is now a minority compared to nonwhite groups.

But census officials said that growth was not universal across Texas, as many other parts of the vast state — in rural areas and smaller cities — saw their populations drained.

The evolution has spurred questions about how the state’s political fortunes could be influenced.

The change in demographics has boosted the optimism of Democrats, who have been courting the new arrivals as potential new voters. They have been buoyed by the party’s recent victories in places like Georgia and Arizona, where demographic shifts have corresponded with new political viability in states where Republicans had long been dominant.

Still, Republicans maintain a tight grip on power at the statewide level. The census figures will translate to new seats in Congress. But that has set the stage for a combative redistricting process this fall.