Fort Worth, Texas, surpassed San Jose in population last year, as the Bay Area’s biggest city continued its pandemic era shrinking.
San Jose’s estimated 970,000 people, down from around 1 million before the pandemic, was narrowly behind Fort Worth’s 978,000 as of July 2023, according to census data released this week. Since the pandemic, San Jose dropped from the 10th largest U.S. city to the 13th, also behind Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Fla.
Fort Worth, which is west of Dallas, added around 21,000 people between July 2022 and July 2023, the second-most among all U.S. cities and behind only San Antonio. San Jose lost around 2,000 during that time.
San Francisco grew slightly during that time period, gaining 1,200 people.
San Jose faces ongoing challenges around tech layoffs and remote work. For instance, Google has paused a massive development plan around Diridon Station as it cuts back on office growth. As a result of rising expenses and tax declines, San Jose is facing a $52 million budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year, Mayor Matt Mahan wrote in a March letter.
Experts previously have said that remote work and high housing costs have pushed tens of thousands of residents out of the Bay Area’s biggest cities. Though some have returned to slow growth, those dynamics mean more affordable areas like Texas and Florida are expected to continue to see much higher population growth.
“The population growth across the South in 2023 was driven by significant numeric and percentage gains among its cities,” said Crystal Delbé, a Census Bureau statistician, in a statement. “Thirteen of the 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South, with eight in Texas alone.”
While the 15 most populous U.S. cities remain the same, the order shifted outside of San Jose. Jacksonville, an 875-square-mile city, jumped ahead of Austin to become the 10th largest city, with 986,000 people.
Los Angeles remains the second-biggest U.S. city at 3.8 million, and San Diego is eighth at 1.39 million.
The nation’s growth rate was 0.5% during the period. Notably, Detroit saw its first population gain since 1957.
Reach Roland Li: [email protected]; Twitter: @rolandlisf
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