State of Our Region

The Capital Area grew from approximately 1.3 million to 1.7 million residents between 2000 and 2008, an increase of 26 percent.

For every 100 residents added to the region between 2000 and 2008, 22 were in Austin and 11 were in Round Rock. On average, 17 out of every 100 new residents were in unincorporated areas of the counties.

One out of five Capital Area residents lives in a rural area. CAPCOG’s rural population grew by an estimated 56,190 people between 2000 and 2008.

On average, 57% of new residents in Travis County and 65% of new residents in Williamson County come from other places in Texas. California makes up only a small percentage of the total number of people moving to the region each year.

Unemployment rates in the Capital Area are for the most part below both the state and the national averages. However, the number of unemployed people in the region increased 40% between October 2007 and October 2008, and is at its highest point since 2003.

Austin-Round Rock is one of the strongest performing housing markets in the U.S. right now, in terms of price stability. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight ranked Austin-Round Rock #1 in 2008Q3, among the nearly 300 metro areas the agency tracks.