Austin growth spills into Round Rock

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - New U.S. Census numbers show Austin's population continues to spill out into surrounding communities quickly becoming big cities themselves.

In the last year, the numbers in Austin increased nearly 4 percent. Cedar Park, Kyle, San Marcos and Round Rock all had even greater increases. Round Rock rose to the top, adding nearly 5 percent more people to its population.

The city has come a long way since the 1850s when it was merely a cattle crossing with a population of 250. By 1980, there were 13,000 people living there, and today there are more than 100,000. By 2030, the city estimates its population will be 158,000.

Since 2005, the number of new homes built in Round Rock went up by 21 percent. In the last decade, it grew by 43 percent.

Beyond housing, schools are evidence of the population boom. Round Rock ISD – which encompasses the entire city and has boundaries in other communities - built eight new campuses in the last five years, including its largest high school - Cedar Ridge. The district adds around 1,000 each year.

"Currently, we're sitting at over 45,000 students,” said JoyLynn Occhiuzzi, RRISD spokeswoman. “We have 50 campuses. We are a growing district, and we're going to start looking at the process of possibly doing a bond study with our community to find out if we need another bond."