For first time in more than a decade, Austin is not the nation's fastest-growing metro

Austin is no longer the fastest-growing large metro area in the country, according to new population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin is no longer the fastest-growing large metro area in the country, according to new population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Austin metro includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The region as a whole added 50,105 new residents between July 2022 and July 2023, a growth rate of 2.07%.

Among metros with more than one million people, only Jacksonville, Fla., grew at a faster pace, at 2.20%.

The Dallas/Fort Worth metro added more people than any other in the country, with a population increase of 152,598. Houston ranked second, with 139,789 new residents, ahead of Atlanta, Orlando and Tampa, which rounded out the top five.

Austin's 50,000 new residents put the metro at seventh place for most new residents, behind Charlotte. San Antonio ranked ninth, with a population increase of 48,000.

"These population estimates show a continued trend of strong and rapid population growth for the Austin metro area even if we’re not at the very top of the list," Lila Valencia, demographer for the City of Austin, said.

In a press release, the city attributed the slower growth to "historically low domestic migration." In Travis County specifically, there was a net population loss to migration, despite international migration being at the highest level in more than 10 years.

Travis County lost a net 2,411 residents to outward migration. All other counties in the Austin metro saw a net increase in population from migration, with a net 9,700 people moving to Hays County and a net 20,000 moving to Williamson County.

New population estimates for cities are expected to be released by the Census Bureau in May.