Austin is bigger than five U.S. states

As all Austin residents are—painfully, joyfully, or ambivalently—aware, Austin has gotten a whole lot bigger lately. And it’s happened very quickly—to some, seemingly overnight.

In fact, according to lawn-care app LawnStarter, between 1987—the first year of South by Southwest—and 2017, the population within city limits doubled, reaching an estimated 943,795 people as of Jan. 1, 2017.

Instead of bemoaning those numbers, the LawnStarter blog’s editor-in-chief, John Egan, recently had some fun with them, comparing and mapping the city’s population density (2,896 people per square mile) to that of U.S. states—five of which have fewer residents than Austin does.

For instance, if you compare a map of South Dakota, which has 865,454 people in 77,121 square miles, it looks like this (Austin is outlined in blue):

John Egan, Lawnstarter

Here’s how we look compared to the four other states whose population is less than ours:

John Egan, Lawnstarter

John Egan, Lawnstarter

John Egan, Lawnstarter

John Egan, Lawnstarter

You can dive deeper into fun with population and density numbers at the link below.

• How Many States Have Fewer Residents Than Austin? [Lawnstarter]