Texas isn't just getting more populated, its residents are getting richer.For years, critics have argued that Texas' economic success is mostly a numbers game: more people move in, businesses follow, and the economy naturally gets larger.But the latest federal data suggest there's more to it.Even after accounting for one of the nation's biggest population booms, the Lone Star State is generating more wealth for the average resident than it did just a few years ago, a sign that the state's economy is getting stronger, not just larger.For decades, California and New York have dominated America's economic landscape through centers of power like Silicon Valley, Hollywood and Wall Street.
Yet Texas has increasingly emerged as a challenger to the traditional economic order.ONE SOUTHERN CITY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF IS GROWING FASTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN AMERICAFederal data show Texas is growing in more ways than one, adding residents, jobs and economic output simultaneously.(Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis/Getty Images)Texas has started garnering more corporate relocations, investment and residents at a pace few states can rival.
Supporters argue the state's growth offers an alternative economic model built around lower taxes, lighter regulation and business-friendly policies.Bigger doesn't always mean better — states can add people to the rolls without seeing residents become more prosperous in the process.But Texas, the largest state of the lower 48, has continued to generate more economic output per resident even as its population surges, suggesting its growth is being driven by quality residents and more than individual migration.According to the Census Bureau's newest population estimates, Texas added nearly 419,000 residents between 2024 and 2025, the largest numeric increase of any state.For comparison, New York added roughly 135,000 residents during the same period, while California's population declined by nearly 76,000.At the same time, the Lone Star ...