In 2022, Austin had just broken into the top 10 largest cities in America. It was the fastest-growing large metro area in the country, and had held that title for 12 years. Now, Austin has dipped to the 13th largest city, and the fourth fastest-growing region in the country. What happened in the last three years that accounts for such a sudden slowdown?
Austin’s “pull factors” — the things that draw people to a city — have been changing, said City Demographer Lila Valencia in a presentation to the Airport Advisory Commission on Wednesday. “Those historically have been things like our highly-educated workforce, our beautiful green spaces, our culture, our vibrant economy – but our economy of late is a little bit slower in terms of job growth.”
Austin’s unemployment rate is still relatively low (3.3 percent in May as opposed to the US rate of 4.1 percent) but job growth has stalled. Specifically, what was previously the fastest growing sector in Austin, the information sector, has declined for the last few years, leading to a dip in domestic migration (from other parts of the country). Domestic migrants now consist mostly of college-age young people coming to UT Austin from other parts of Texas. Another historical pull factor for Austin has now become a push, Valencia explained: “Right now, our affordability is not what it has been in the past… (It) is causing a pressure outward.”…