The Rural Capital Area is a nine-county region with a population of 1.4 million in central Texas surrounding Austin, the state capital. The region has grown more rapidly than the U.S. for the past decade, growing 46% versus 6% for the U.S. Recently in 2025, the region’s population grew 3%, its slowest growth rate in 10 years.

The region’s population growth has historically been driven by migration of people from across the United States. In the last decade, 77% of the new population was due to net domestic migration. Migration outpaces births by almost 2-to-1: in 2025, 28,000 people moved to the U.S. and 15,600 births occurred.

Williamson County is the most populous in the region with 55% of residents, followed by Hays (22%), Bastrop (9%), Burnet (4%), and Caldwell (4%) counties. Population has grown in all regional counties over the past decade but was fastest in Hays (56% growth from 2015 to 2025), Bastrop (48%), and Williamson (48%) counties.

The region’s population is spread fairly evenly across age groups below 60 years and has seen significant growth in the past decade at all age levels, especially working age adults (aged 25-49) and retirees (65+). In 2025, 19% of the region’s population were children under 15 years of age, 14% were youth aged 15 to 24, 42% were prime working-age (aged 25 to 54), and 15% were retirement aged (65+).