Tarrant County recorded the fifth-most growth nationwide over the last decade.Six of the 10 U.S. counties with the largest population gains this decade were in Texas — Harris, Tarrant, Bexar, Dallas, Collin and Travis — according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2019, population estimates released this week.
Among the nation’s counties, the top 10 with the largest numeric gains since 2010 are all located in the South and the West. In addition to the six Texas counties, the remaining four counties on the list are Maricopa County, Ariz.; King County, Wash.; Clark County, Nev.; and Riverside County, Calif.
Tarrant County ranked No. 5 in growth over the decade, expanding from 1,810,664 residents on April 1, 2010, to 2,102,515 on July 1, 2019. Those numbers represent an increase of 291,851 residents over the decade.
“One interesting trend we have seen this decade is widespread population decline among smaller counties, while larger counties tended to have population growth,” said Christine Hartley, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “Three out of four counties with a population of less than 10,000 in 2010 had even smaller populations in 2019. At the same time, three out of four counties of 50,000 or more were larger in 2019 compared to 2010.”
This pattern among larger counties was particularly evident in the West and South.
Among metropolitan areas, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had the largest numeric gain since 2010, with an increase of 1,206,599 (19%).
Vintage 2019 is the last series of population estimates to be released before the completion of the 2020 Decennial Census, which is currently underway across the nation. Data from the 2020 Census will be released beginning this December and running all through 2021.