Texas Almanac, 1954-1955 Page: 90
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Population of Texas
The population of Texas, July 1, 1952,
was estimated by the U.S. Bureau of the
Census at 8,189,000, an increase of 477,-
000, or 6.2 per cent increase over the
population of 7,711,194, enumerated in
the census of 1950. A projection of this
rate of increase to July 1, 1953, would
indicate a population of 8,413,000, or 9.1
per cent. In the same three years the
population of the United States increased
from 151,132,000 (including men in the
armed services) to 159,473,000 (including
armed services), or 5.5 per cent.
The last official enumeration of Texas
population, as of April 1, 1950, showed
7,711,194, which was an increase of 1,296,-
370, or 20.2 per cent over the population
of 6,414, 824 counted in 1940. (See p. 95.)
Texas ranked sixth among the states
in 1950, the same as in 1940. Texas
ranked fifth in the censuses of 1910, 1920
and 1930. While the growth of Texas,
1940 to 1950, was much more rapid than
the growth of most other states, or the
United States as a whole, it lost one
place in rank because of the more rapid
growth of California. States outranking
Texas in 1950 were (1) New York, (2)
California, (3) Pennsylvania, (4) Illinois
and (5) Ohio. (See p. 124.)
Urban Population Growth.
The rapid growth of urban population
was the outstanding development in the
growth of Texas population between 1940
and 1950. The population of urban places
increased from 2,911,389 to 4,838,060, or
66.2 per cent. Rural territory, including
farm population and population of towns
of (usually) less than 2,500, decreased
from 3,503,435 to 2,873,134. This was a
decrease of 18 per cent.
Texas population was 45.4 per cent
urban and 54.6 rural in 1940. By 1950
it had switched to 62.7 urban and 37.3
rural. Of the rural population in 1950,
only 1,292,267 was farm population. The
remaining 1,580,867 of rural population
lived in small towns (less than 2,500 as a
rule) and in the country but did not farm
as a vocation. (See chart, p. 91.)
Metropolitan Population Increase.
The drift of Texas population in recent
years has not only been toward the urban
centers, but primarily toward the large
metropolitan centers. In 1950 the seven
cities having a population of 100,000 or
more had a total population of 2,089,076.
The sixty-four cities having between 10,-
000 and 100,000 population had a total of
1,602,856. A total of 3,691,932 lived in
places of 10,000-or more.
This figure does not include the people
living within metropolitan areas of the big
cities but outside the central city and sub-
urbs of 10,000 or more. If city suburban
population is added, about half the state's
population is shown as living in places of
10,000 or more. (See chart, p. 91.)
Definitions of "Urban" and "Rural."
Part of the large increase of urban
population in 1950 arose from the new
definitions of "urban" and "rural" popu-lation. Prior to 1950 the Bureau of the
Census held, with few exceptions, to a
rule that classed as "urban" all popula-
tion in incorporated places of 2,500 or
more. All other population was classed
as "rural" and divided into "farm rural"
and "nonfarm rural." The census of 1950
included in "urban" certain classes of
population that were living under "ur-
ban" conditions though classed as rural
under the old definition. This included
population of unincorporated places of
more than 2,500 and the dense suburban
population of cities of more than 50,000,
even though living outside city limits.
Even by the old rules of classification,
the swing of Texas population from rural
to urban environment was -rapid during
the 1940-1950 decade. By the old defini-
tion of urban population, it was 4,612,666
in 1950, an increase of 1,701,277, or 58.4
per cent over the urban population in
1940. By the same definition, rural popu-
lation was 3,098,528, a decrease of 404,-
907, or 11.6 per cent from 1940. (See
table and footnote, p. 95.)
Causes of Shift.
The rapid swing of Texas population
toward urban residence and vocation
comes from several causes. Mechaniza-
tion of the farming industries was one
cause. The decline in the cotton acreage
was another. Cotton growing has re-
sisted mechanization more than most
crops, though it has been partly mech-
anized, especially in the western part of
the state.
During the 1940-1950 decade Texas
manufacturing increased its physical out-
put more than in all preceding history.
This contributed greatly to both the shift
toward urban population and the total
population of the state. First came the
big industries of World War II and then
the expansion of the petroleum, chemical
and other industries after the war. Be-
tween the censuses of manufacturing in
1939 and 1947 (the two latest, since there
was no census of manufacturing in 1950),
Texas industries doubled their produc-
tion, and greatly increased their employ-
ment. There was a resulting increase in
employment in the distributive, transpor-
tation and other classifications of com-
merce. Since 1947 the manufacturing in-
dustries of Texas have continued their
rapid growth as measured by the in-
crease in. number of industrial workers
reported by the Texas Employment Com-
mission. (See "Manufacturing" in index.)
While employment on the farms was
declining, it was increasing rapidly in the
urban trades. The shift was rapid. One
of the results has been a rapid decrease
in farm tenancy, especially the share-
cropper class, together with a decrease
in number of farms and an increase in
average size of farms.
The decline in rural and increase in
urban population was quite evident in
the percentage of counties that lost popu-
lation as compared with the percentage
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Texas Almanac, 1954-1955, book, 1953; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117168/m1/92/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.