Dallas-Fort Worth is Growing Faster Than Anyplace Else in America, Ranking No. 1 for Population Growth

The People (and Traffic) are Coming

By Megan Ziots // Apr 22, 2019

Downtown Dallas

Dallas has been growing for awhile now. We can tell by the ever-increasing traffic on Central Expressway. But it turns out Dallas-Fort Worth is growing faster than any other area in America.

Between 2017 and 2018, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 1 for population growth in the entire country, with an increase of 131, 767 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The region now boasts 7.5 million people, making it the fourth largest metro area in the United States, trailing only the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago areas.

Another sprawling Texas city, Houston, came in third for population growth in America with an addition of nearly 92,000 people last year. And Austin landed in seventh with over 53,000 new residents. Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are the only two metro areas in the country to have added more than a million people in the last decade.

Dallas-Fort Worth suburban counties ended up being the fastest growing, beating out their urban cores. Denton, Collin, and Rockwall counties ranked in the Top 10 fastest-growing large counties in Texas from 2010 to 2018. Denton county leads with an almost 30 percent increase.

For Houston, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties grew rapidly with 34.59 and 29.66 percent changes. As of 2018, Dallas-Fort Worth has a population of 7,539,711 people and Houston has 6,997,384.

Dallas-Fort Worth also led the nation in job growth for 2018, likely the main driver behind why so many people are moving here. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, DFW added 116,400 jobs over the past year. Houston followed closely behind with 108,300 jobs added.