WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas — According to U.S. census data, some of the fastest-growing communities in the country are in Williamson County.
The latest data shows Georgetown has a population over 96,000.
Glen Holcomb, the chief building official for the city of Georgetown, said his office has issued a lot of building permits in the past couple years. Holcomb said it issued 1,520 new residential permits in 2023, and 2,166 new residential permits in 2024. It also issued 202 commercial permits in 2023, and 247 in 2024.
“Georgetown is all over the place. We are really big,” said Holcomb.
Holcomb said city leaders are making sure they have enough water. Last year, crews finished improvements at the North Lake and Southside water treatment plants.
The new South Lake Water Treatment Plant is set to be completed next year. In December, Georgetown also approved buying more water from the Simsboro Aquifer each year.
“With these new water treatment plants, I think we are going to be OK,” said Holcomb.
Martin Brewer moved to the Wolf Ranch community a couple years ago and notices the growth.
“Communities are popping up all over – friendly kind of community, everyone knows each other. Especially on this side, it’s older community.”
Nearby Leander has a population of more than 80,000. Scott Sitkiewitz, who moved to Leander a few years ago near Ronald Reagan Boulevard, said he has seen the growth.
“It’s exponential. The growth is crazy. I used to drive out and get on the street, and now there is a queue of cars getting onto Parmer in the morning,” Sitkiewitz said.
Leander issued more than 3,700 residential permits in 2023, and more than 3,000 last year.
Just like in Georgetown, city leaders said they are working to expand their water treatment plant to meet demand.
“We need to make sure we have enough water for everybody. Everyone wants to be able to water their lawn, make sure the water is clean and available when turn on their tap,” Leander Mayor Christine Delisle said.
In Hutto, a total of 3,556 permits were issued in 2023, and 2,904 in 2024.
Boomtown is KVUE’s series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.