Texas - Demographics

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Texas was 25,674,681 on July 1, 2011, a 2.10% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The state's rate of natural increase (births and deaths) since the last census was 1,389,275 people, immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 801,576 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 451,910 people.

As of 2004, the state had 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6 percent of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal aliens. Texas from 2000–2006 had the fastest growing illegal immigration rate in the nation. In 2010, illegal aliens constituted an estimated 6.0% of the population. This was the fifth highest percentage of any state in the country.

Texas's population density is 34.8 persons/km2 which is slightly higher than the average population density of the US as a whole, at 31 persons/km2. In contrast, while Texas and France are similarly sized geographically, the European country has a population density of 116 persons/km2.

Two-thirds of all Texans live in a major metropolitan area such as Houston. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area is the largest in Texas. While Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the United States, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area is considerably larger than that of Houston.