SAN ANTONIO – The United States Census Bureau on Thursday released its annual data detailing population changes across the country. The numbers, which represent July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015, paint a picture of extreme growth, once again, for Texas and the San Antonio area.
According to the Bureau, Bexar County added more than 37,000 residents during the period, claiming the second-largest gain among Texas counties and the fifth-largest gain, numerically, of any county in the country.
"It’s our diverse economy, it’s our friendly people and it’s our great climate,” said Richard Perez, the president and CEO of San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. "This is just a great place to live, and a lot of folks throughout the nation are figuring that out, but I think the larger story is Texas is a great place to live."
The numbers agreed with that notion, with four of Texas’ metropolitan areas -- Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio -- gaining more population than any other state in the union.
The San Antonio metropolitan area, which is comprised of Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson counties, gained 51,000 residents. It was a big enough gain to rank the San Antonio metro 15th in the nation when it comes to growth for the period.
The Houston and Dallas metros topped that list. In total, Texas gained 409,000 people.
A recent downturn in oil and gas could slow growth some in future census counts. However, Perez believed that it is a trend that will not last long.
"The energy sector, in particular, is not going to be down forever, so once that begins to ramp back up, those jobs that we lost will come back,” Perez said.
Within the San Antonio metro area, other counties saw significant gains as well. Percentage-wise, Comal County saw the seventh-largest population gain in the country, while Kendall County ranked 12th.