Westward, Ho

Regular COTTonLINE readers know we love population trends and demography. The Atlantic weighs in with a short article which could have been written by the Texas Chamber of Commerce ... seriously.

New Census population estimates are out today, and only two metros added more than 100,000 people between July 2013 and July 2014. Houston and Dallas—both in Texas.

Only one metro with a population greater than 1 million people grew by 3 percent last year. It's Austin—also in Texas.

The cities with the highest levels of net domestic migration since 2010 are Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, Denver, and San Antonio.

Four out of six in just one state - Texas. Most growth is happening in the Sun Belt.

The New York Times has a chart which pictures the following four facts graphically. It shows the average 2014 growth rate for metropolitan areas categorized by mean January high temperatures.

Under 35 degrees    0.2%
35 to 45 degrees      0.5%
45 to 60 degrees      0.9%
Over 60 degrees      1.3%

The Atlantic article concludes:

None of the 20 fastest-growing metros are in the northeast. Rather, they're in the sunny crescent that swoops from the Carolinas down through Texas and up into the west toward the Dakotas. Americans are back to sun-worshipping.