Booming Population Growth for the Alamo City
Q1 2022 San Antonio Office Outlook
While San Antonio may feel like a small town in many ways to those who have spent a lot of time here, the truth is that our beloved city is among the largest and fastest-growing areas in the country. Of the largest 35 markets in the U.S., the San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area was the third-fastest growing in 2021 with a population increase of 1.4%, as reported by Costar. While this is an impressive statistic, San Antonio is no stranger to these types of lists. The city was also the fastest-growing of the ten largest cities in the U.S. from 2000 to 2010, and the second from 1990 to 2000. According to data from the most recent census in 2020, San Antonio added 108,464 people between 2010 and 2020 to reach a new total of 1,434,625 residents, an 8.1 percent increase. Bexar County, as a whole, saw a population increase of 17% over the same time period ending in 2020, and also surpassed the milestone of 2 million people. For reference, in 1980, Bexar County’s population was less than 1 million people, indicating that the population has more than doubled in the last 40 years. The greater San Antonio area had a population of 2,558,143 as of 2020, making it the seventh-fastest growing metropolitan area in the country from 2010 to 2020.
By 2040, the city of San Antonio is expected to gain an additional 1.1 million residents, according to city planners. This growth will need to be met by major changes to existing infrastructure and the implementation of alternative methods of transportation. While these challenges may prove difficult to city officials, it is essential to provide solutions that are viable in the long term. And though these growing pains are felt by every large metro, this presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on this growth. A 66% population increase in under 20 years may sound far-fetched, but data from the Texas Demographic Center suggests that this is likely if current trends continue. They predict that the San Antonio metro area will have nearly 3.8 million residents by 2040 and nearly 4.5 million residents by 2050. This would indicate that the Austin-San Antonio MSA will exceed 9 million residents by 2050. The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization reports this influx of new residents would bring an additional 675,000 new jobs and according to the Mayor’s Housing Policy task Force, there will be a need for an additional 520,000 housing units over this time period as well. The implications this would have on the commercial real estate industry are astounding and will create opportunities for all property types amid this surge in demand.