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The downtown Houston skyline is visible looking north from Interstate 45 Gulf Freeway, the highway that replaced the Galveston-Houston railway<\/p>\n
Kirk Sides\/Staff photographer<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s population barely inched upward in 2025 as migration trends converged to stall growth<\/a> in most large American cities, according to new population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. \u00a0<\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown, combined with fewer people moving domestically within the country, contributed to the lowest level of growth<\/a> that Houston has seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. \u00a0<\/p>\n The nation\u2019s suburbs and mid-sized cities, meanwhile, grew at a healthier clip \u2014 especially in Texas, which accounted for the five fastest-growing cities in America, including Fulshear<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE: Will Houston’s population growth stall amid Trump’s immigration crackdown? It’s likely, experts say<\/a><\/p>\n The latest data shows that Houston\u2019s booming suburbs<\/a> will likely continue to bear the brunt of the region\u2019s growth while the city itself starts to level off, especially while Trump limits the levels of immigration into the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest factor is the slowdown in international migration,\u201d said Texas Demographer Lloyd Potter.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Sluggish growth\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston grew by less than half a percent between 2024 and 2025, adding roughly 11,500 people. Houston previously added over 40,000 residents<\/a> in 2024 \u2014 the most of any city in the country besides New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Fort Worth, San Antonio and Celina, a Dallas suburb, all added more residents last year than Houston, which ranked sixth in the nation for raw growth. New York\u2019s population declined by over 12,000 residents last year, indicating that other big American cities were hit even harder by national trends. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBig-city growth slowed significantly between 2024 and 2025, with some major hubs even seeing small declines,\u201d said Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau\u2019s Population Division, in a statement. \u201cIn contrast, midsized cities found a \u2018Goldilocks zone\u2019 where domestic and international migration, paired with new housing, helped prevent the sluggish growth seen in small towns and larger metropolitan centers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s future\u00a0<\/p>\n The city-level population data released Thursday is the latest indicator that Trump\u2019s agenda, and specifically his immigration policies, will likely stunt the growth<\/a> of America\u2019s largest cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houston, like other major urban areas, relies heavily on international migration<\/a> to fuel its expansion as more and more people pack up and move to the suburbs. Trump\u2019s near-total shutdown of the border, combined with his mass deportation efforts and anti-immigrant rhetoric, means that fewer people are moving here from around the world. \u00a0<\/p>\n