Divergence of numbers

Though there’s plenty of evidence the city of Austin is growing; the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t quite agree.

Austin’s population has increased over the years but new population estimates released Thursday peg Austin’s population at 24,716 residents in 2014, two less than the official 2010 census count.

According to the Census Bureau, Austin’s population is estimated to have grown to 24,807 in 2012 but has decreased since.

Yet the estimate doesn’t reflect the larger changes going on in the community, according to area leaders.

A 2013 housing study that used census data and demographic reports from Austin Public Schools found Austin needs more than 400 houses and apartment units to keep up with increasing population by 2020, along with more than 350 housing units for seniors.

The Austin school district has also experienced steady growth in its student population, according to Finance Director Mark Stotts. The district’s average student attendance grew from about 4,426 students in the 2010-2011 school year to 4,644 students last year.

“You can see we’ve been growing, and our growth before 2010-11 was even higher,” Stotts said. “The growth has been still pretty significant.”

Austin Public Schools also opened I.J. Intermediate School in 2012 to keep up with the population growth.

The district isn’t the only group building infrastructure for a bigger crowd, however. The Hormel Institute is set to complete a 74,000-square-foot expansion at the end of the year, which is set to bring in 120 jobs for researchers and Institute staff.

The city of Austin is also preparing to receive more residents. City officials are set to add staff in 2016 to maintain services in the face of increasing demand, as emergency calls and city requests have increased over the past few years.

“We’re growing, people,” Finance Director Tom Dankert told the Austin City Council on Monday during a budget discussion.