How Well Do You Know Texas?

Texas is known for headline-type numbers. We export more products than any other state. We’re growing by 1,000 people a day. Texas has the 10th-largest economy in the world. Etc. 

But to really know Texas’ story, dig inside the numbers.

Yes, we have the second-largest population in the country, with 28 million people.
And 85 percent of them live within the triangle between the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio metropolitan areas.

1%
Of Texans Live Within the Texas Triangle

There are 5.4 million children enrolled in our public schools — more children than Louisiana has people.
But almost 60 percent of students in Texas public schools qualify for free or reduced lunch at school; the number of such economically disadvantaged students has grown faster than overall enrollment.

Texas’ Gross Domestic Product has nearly tripled in the past 20 years.
And Texas is consistently among the leading states in the country for its number of women-owned businesses.

 Texas is a leading state in the country for its number of

Texas is projected to add more than 10 million people in the next 16 years. That’s about the same number of people living inside our 15 largest cities right now.
Yet even today, the state could only meet three-fourths of its water needs in a major drought.

Welcome to Texas

Texas became a minority-majority population state in 2005.
According to the State Demographer, Texas will very soon be a Latino majority state — perhaps next year.

Texas will very soon be a Latino majority state

Texas has a low cost-of-living compared with most large states.
But per capita health care expenditures have been rising by an average of 4.8% percent a year, eating more and more into the budgets of Texans, their employers, and state and local governments.

Per capita health care expenditures rise by an average of 4.8% a year

These kinds of data points will — and should — drive the work of state leaders and policy makers. They’re the reason Texas 2036 exists: the more we understand about the data, the better we can plan for and create an even brighter future for our state. 

Please visit Texas2036.org to learn more about the data defining who we are and where we are going, and keep that data handy as you engage with friends, neighbors and candidates for public office.  

Who knows what all we’ll learn?

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