Austin, United States

Capital city of Texas, United States

About Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. With a population of 961,855 at the 2020 census, it is the 12th-most populous city in the U.S., fifth-most populous city in Texas, and second-most populous U.S. state capital, while the Austin metro area with an estimated 2.55 million residents is the 25th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Austin is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it has been one of the fastest-growing large cities in the United States since 2010.

History

Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of human habitation since at least 9200 BC. The area's earliest known inhabitants lived during the late Pleistocene (Ice Age) and are linked to the Clovis culture around 9200 BC (over 11,200 years ago), based on evidence found throughout the area and documented at the much-studied Gault Site, midway between Georgetown and Fort Hood. Excavations at the French Legation in downtown Austin revealed a site utilized during the Archaic period of North America, about 5,000 years ago. Artifacts dating to the Paleo-Indians period show possible use as early as 9,000 years ago. Spanish colonists traveled through the area, though few permanent settlements were created for some time. The Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition of 1709 reached the Colorado River near today's Austin hoping to meet with the Tejas Indians (Hasinai). …

Geography

Austin, the southernmost state capital of the contiguous 48 states, is located in Central Texas on the Colorado River. Austin is 146 miles (230 km) northwest of Houston, 182 miles (290 km) south of Dallas, and 74 miles (120 km) northeast of San Antonio. Austin occupies a total area of 305.1 square miles (790.1 km2). Approximately 7.2 square miles (18.6 km2) of this area is water. Austin is situated at the foot of the Balcones Escarpment, on the Colorado River, with three artificial lakes within the city limits: Lady Bird Lake (formerly known as Town Lake), Lake Austin (both created by dams along the Colorado River), and Lake Walter E. Long that is partly used for cooling water for the Decker Power Plant. Mansfield Dam and the foot of Lake Travis are located within the city's limits. Lady Bird Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Travis are each on the Colorado River. …

Culture

"Keep Austin Weird" has been a local motto for years, featured on bumper stickers and T-shirts. This motto has not only been used in promoting Austin's eccentricity and diversity, but is also meant to bolster support of local independent businesses. According to the 2010 book Weird City the phrase was begun by a local Austin Community College librarian, Red Wassenich, and his wife, Karen Pavelka, who were concerned about Austin's "rapid descent into commercialism and overdevelopment." The slogan has been interpreted many ways since its inception, but remains an important symbol for many Austinites who wish to voice concerns over rapid growth and development. Austin has a long history of vocal citizen resistance to development projects perceived to degrade the environment, or to threaten the natural and cultural landscapes. …

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Economy

The Greater Austin metropolitan statistical area had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $248 billion in 2023. Austin is considered to be a major center for high tech. Thousands of graduates each year from the engineering and computer science programs at the University of Texas at Austin provide a steady source of employees that help to fuel Austin's technology and defense industry sectors. As a result of the high concentration of high-tech companies in the region, Austin was strongly affected by the dot-com boom in the late 1990s and subsequent bust. Austin's largest employers include the Austin Independent School District, the City of Austin, Dell Technologies, the U.S. Federal Government, NXP Semiconductors, IBM, St. David's Healthcare Partnership, Seton Family of Hospitals, the State of Texas, the Texas State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. …

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Austin had a population of 961,855. The median age was 33.0 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.4 males age 18 and over. 99.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.5% lived in rural areas. There were 410,868 households in Austin, of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.0% were married-couple households, 26.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 444,426 housing units, of which 7. …

Austin

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