Austin REAL ESTATE

Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 1:51pm CDT

Round Rock is the 2nd fastest growing big city in the U.S.
Austin Business Journal

Round Rock is the second-fastest growing large city in the nation for
the 12 months that ended July 1, 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau said in
its annual population estimates released Wednesday.

The Williamson County municipalitys population grew 8.6 percent over
the year period, making it second only in growth to New Orleans.
Round Rock added 7,800 residents during the year.


With 18,000 people added to its population count, Austin was the 9th
biggest gainer in the country. The Capital City moved from the 16th
largest city in the U.S. to the 15th, moving ahead of Columbus, Ohio.

Texas had the most cities on the list on the top 25 fastest growing
big cities with a total of seven. They include: Denton, Plano,
Lewisville, Fort Worth and McKinney in North Texas and Killeen and
Round Rock in Central Texas.

New Orleans experienced an 8.2 percent increase in its population,
which rose to 311,853, making the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina
in 2005 the fastest growing city among places with populations
greater than 100,000.

Among other Central Texas cities, Cedar Park ranked as the 54th
biggest population gainer in nationwide and 14th in Texas. Buda was
the 14th fastest growing city of any size in the nation and third in
Texas with a growth rate of 20.7 percent over the year. Hutto ranked
8th in Texas, Kyle 17th, Leander 22nd, and Manor 24th.

Chris Ramser, community planner for the Capital Area Council of
Governments, points out that growth within the Capital region has
slowed only slightly when compared to previous years.

“The recession is undoubtedly impacting growth here, but so far we’re
not seeing much effect on our population growth trajectory,” Ramser
said. “Overall, annual growth in the Capital Area cities between July
2007 and July 2008 was 3.8 percent, down only slightly from 4.4
percent during 2005 to 2007. Austin-Round Rock is still one of the
fastest growing regions in the United States.”