Austin’s new million-resident milestone is more than just a number.
To City Demographer Lila Valencia, it means more business opportunities and tax money for city services. It puts Austin in a league of just 12 cities now with a seven-digit population. It signals that Austin remains a city on the rise, unlike those losing population.
“It definitely puts Austin on more of not just a national stage in terms of big cities, but an international and global stage that can really work to attract greater economic development to the area,” she said.
The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released data officially listing Austin’s 2025 population as 1,002,632.
Austin, the city. Not the Austin metro area. Not the Austin region.
Austin, the city, has been teetering at the million mark since 2020. That year, the Census Bureau put Austin at 958,151. Since then, it has grown 4.6%.
Austin’s new status shines light on its evolution from a fast-growing boomtown into one of the nation’s largest cities, bringing both economic clout and mounting pressure on infrastructure, housing and public services. Even as the city grapples with traffic congestion, affordability challenges, aging bridges and food access gaps, Austin continues to attract new residents with its job market, cultural identity and outdoor lifestyle.
The new federal designation also arrives as population growth slows or reverses in many large U.S. cities, reinforcing Austin’s status as one of the country’s enduring growth centers.
“There’s no denying now that Austin is a big city and we have big challenges, said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. “But we also still have a small town heart and that’s part of what makes it the best place in the country to raise a family or to seek out new opportunities.”
The million-person mark is no surprise to Valencia. She says Austin has been a 1-million-person city since 2020 and has been waiting for federal data to catch up..
The demographer’s numbers have been at odds with the Census Bureau’s figures since that year, when the federal count was thrown off-kilter by COVID-19. Because of that, Valencia said, the Census Bureau missed about 40,000 residents.
“One million residents is a powerful signal to businesses, investors, and talent across the country that Austin is a place where growth happens and where the economy is built to last,” said Gabrielle Johnson, senior vice president of strategy with the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Now the city joins the ranks of the other million-plus Texas cities: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth. Austin hits this marker at a time when other large cities across the country are seeing population declines. About a third of the nation’s cities with populations of more than 250,000 lost residents since 2024, census numbers show.
The new federal figures do not include information such as gender, race and age. Those numbers, Valencia said, come out in June.
The demographer wasn’t surprised to see the region reflect the national trend of big growth in small and mid-sized cities. What did catch her off guard is that Austin grew at all.
Immigration policies have led to deportations across the state. Some families have gone into hiding, making them harder to count. Meanwhile, Austin’s ongoing cost-of-living issues have driven some people out of the city in search of more affordable lifestyles.
But housing prices have stabilized and rents have decreased. So Valencia wondered how all of those factors would play out.
Now she thinks those real estate factors, plus a 4% job growth rate, kept people coming to the city.
“Our rent prices have been declining,” Valencia said. “So we believe that not as many people had to move out, as they may have had to if those prices kept going up.”
Cities just outside Austin also continued to grow since the last census. Round Rock’s population jumped to more than 141,000, up 4.2% between 2024 and 2025. Leander has experienced continuous growth since 2020, when the census counted its population at 59,000. The new census numbers put the city at 91,000.
The fast growth has pushed the city to address improvements to parks, water and infrastructure, said Leander Mayor Na’Cole Thompson. The city has hired more city employees and is now planning for what it will need over the next 10 years.
“It’s a lot of things happening all at once, so we’re really excited about the growth,” Thompson said. “But I’m more hopeful about the fact that we are planning for the future.”
Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri said the city’s million-resident status is a major moment.
“At the same time, growth comes with responsibility,” Qadri said. “As Austin continues to grow, we have to stay focused on affordability, infrastructure and preserving the communities and character that make this city special.”
