Austin, RR and NB in the list of America’s biggest boomtowns

[Neil Narayan]

A new study from personal finance website SmartAsset ranks Austin and neighboring Round Rock as two of the nation’s top 50 boomtowns.

To come up with its list of boomtowns, SmartAsset evaluated data for 500 of the largest U.S. cities. It looked at growth factors for each city such as five-year population change, average yearly growth in economic output (GDP), five-year change in number of businesses, five-year growth in housing, and August 2021 unemployment rate.

Austin clocks in at No. 17 in the U.S. and No. 3 in Texas. The Capital City saw an 8.03 percent change in population, 16.4 percent change in establishments, and 12.8 percent change in housing growth during the time period studied. On SmartAsset’s 100-point boomtown scale, Austin earns a score of 89.51.

Round Rock ties for 25th in the U.S. and takes fourth place in Texas, with an 18.53 percent change in population, 29.9 percent growth in businesses, and 23.15 percent change in housing. In total, Round Rock scores 86.97 points.

Nearby New Braunfels, with a score of 89.82, zooms ahead of Austin and Round Rock in the rankings, tying for No. 14 in the U.S. and ranking No. 2 in Texas. New Braunfels’ population skyrocketed 36.03 percent in five years, and the housing rate jumped more than 50 percent.

https://austin.culturemap.com/...