Texas on Top

Texas' explosive population growth results in 140 new San Antonians each day

San Antonio's population grew by 2.2 percent from 2014 to 2015.

Cristhian Rodriguez/Wikimedia Commons

Population is booming in the Lone Star State: According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas has added more new residents than any other state in the country.

Released Thursday, the Census Bureau's population estimates paint a picture of nationwide growth from July 1, 2014 through July 1, 2015. Texas gained a whopping 490,000 new residents in that time. Together, the Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas were responsible for more than 412,000 of those new Texans.

With a 3 percent population increase, Austin-Round Rock was the fastest-growing metro area in the state, the seventh fastest in the nation. The area added 57,395 new residents.

A similar story played out in San Antonio-New Braunfels, which saw a 2.2 percent increase. San Antonio-New Braunfels attracted 51,285 people — that's about 140 new residents per day.

Combined, the Austin-San Antonio area added a total of 108,680 people. This massive influx adds to the speculation that the I-35 corridor could mimic the collision of our neighbors in North Texas.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area witnessed the highest population gain in the nation, with 159,083 new residents, bringing the total up to 6.6 million. Falling just behind Houston is Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, which added 144,704 residents. A total population of 7.1 million means Dallas-Fort Worth remains the most populous metro in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S.

Even Texas' tinier towns are seeing phenomenal population expansion. Three small metro areas were among the fastest growing in the nation: Midland (No. 4) and Odessa (No. 5) with a 3.3 percent increase, and College Station-Bryan (No. 15) with 2.6 percent. The fastest-growing metro area in the country was The Villages, a suburb of Orlando, Florida, which experienced a 4.3 percent increase in one year.

As we lead the country in population growth and gain, it seems everyone wants to be a Texan. But Texans also like their wide open spaces, so let's keep encouraging the masses to move to Orlando.

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Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

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