Tyler, Then and Now
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Counting Tyler’s people

Every census since 1880 has counted the city: 2,423 people in 1880, 105,995 in 2020. The Census Bureau estimates 113,723 for July 1, 2025.1

The town nearly tripled in the 1880s, with an influx of railroad-shop workers, the Handbook of Texas says,2 and grew 65.2 percent in the 1930s, growth the Handbook ties to the 1930 discovery of the East Texas oilfield.3

Every census count, on a time axis

The city of Tyler at each census, within its limits that year; the open dot is an estimate.

Every figure, with its source

Population of Tyler, Texas, at each census and the 2025 estimate, with the source of each, and the earlier figures the chart leaves out
YearResidentsWhat it isSource
1860Not charted1,021 by the Handbook of Texas, 1,024 by the Tyler MPS’s census table: the sources disagree, so the chart starts later.2Handbook of Texas
1870Not chartedNot counted separately. The 1880 census gives 1,750 for 1870 for Justice Precinct 1, which included the town, not for the town alone.51880 Census
18802,423Census count1880 Census; 1950 Census of Population
18906,908Census count1950 Census of Population; Handbook of Texas
19008,069Census count1950 Census of Population; Handbook of Texas
191010,400Census count1950 Census of Population; Handbook of Texas
192012,085Census count1950 Census of Population; 1960 Census of Population
193017,113Census count1950 Census of Population
194028,279Census count1950 Census of Population
195038,968Census count1950 Census of Population; 1960 Census of Population
196051,23010,893 in areas annexed since 1950Census count1960 Census of Population; Handbook of Texas
197057,770Census count1990 Census of Population and Housing; Handbook of Texas
198070,508Census count1990 Census of Population and Housing; Handbook of Texas
199075,450Census count1990 Census of Population and Housing; Handbook of Texas
200083,650Census countU.S. Census Bureau; Handbook of Texas
201096,900Census countU.S. Census Bureau; Handbook of Texas
2020105,995Census countU.S. Census Bureau; Handbook of Texas
2025113,723Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025U.S. Census Bureau; Handbook of Texas

Notes

  • The Short-Line Residential Historic District nomination (2002) cites the census for different figures: 9,255 in 1920, 13,009 in 1930, 20,879 in 1940 and 28,854 in 1950. The table follows the Census Bureau’s own 1950 and 1960 tables, which the Handbook of Texas matches.8
  • The Handbook’s narrative gives 82,316 residents in 1992: a later estimate, not a census count.10
  • The 2025 figure is an estimate, up about 7.4% from the Census Bureau’s April 2020 estimates base of 105,867, which is not the same number as the 2020 census count of 105,995.1
  • These are counts for the city of Tyler. The Tyler metro area is Smith County alone, with an estimated 252,549 people on July 1, 2025, up about 8.2% from its April 2020 estimates base of 233,470.13
  • Smith County grows mainly because people move in from elsewhere in the U.S.: from July 2020 to July 2025, net domestic migration added about 13,980 people, international migration about 2,340, and births minus deaths about 1,845. That is the county, not the city.14
  1. 1 U.S. Census Bureau data file: sub-est2025.csv; Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX; U.S. Census Bureau data file: 2024_gaz_place_48.txt; U.S. Census Bureau data file: sub-est2025_48.csv; U.S. Census Bureau (data.census.gov): table DECENNIALDHC2020.P9, Tyler city. Research notes
  2. 2 Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX. Research notes
  3. 3 1950 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Number of Inhabitants, Texas (Table 4, Population of incorporated places of 10,000 or more from earliest census to 1950). Research notes
  4. 4 1960 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Part 45 Texas, Table 9, 1960 population of areas annexed between 1950 and 1960 (p. 45-42). Research notes
  5. 5 1880 Census, Vol. 1, Table III, Population of civil divisions less than counties, Texas (p. 348). Research notes
  6. 6 1880 Census, Vol. 1, Table III, Population of civil divisions less than counties, Texas (p. 348); 1950 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Number of Inhabitants, Texas (Table 4, Population of incorporated places of 10,000 or more from earliest census to 1950). Research notes
  7. 7 1950 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Number of Inhabitants, Texas (Table 4, Population of incorporated places of 10,000 or more from earliest census to 1950); Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX (Christopher Long). Research notes
  8. 8 1950 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Number of Inhabitants, Texas (Table 4, Population of incorporated places of 10,000 or more from earliest census to 1950); 1960 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Part 45 Texas, Chapter A Number of Inhabitants (Table 5, p. 45-24). Research notes
  9. 9 1960 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Part 45 Texas, Chapter A Number of Inhabitants (Table 5, p. 45-24); Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX (Christopher Long). Research notes
  10. 10 1990 Census of Population and Housing, Population and Housing Unit Counts, Texas (CPH-2-45), Table 9; Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX (Christopher Long). Research notes
  11. 11 U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census SF1 table P001 (data.census.gov API), Tyler city, Texas; Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX (Christopher Long). Research notes
  12. 12 U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census SF1 table P1 (data.census.gov API), Tyler city, Texas; Handbook of Texas: Tyler, TX (Christopher Long). Research notes
  13. 13 U.S. Census Bureau data file: cbsa-est2025-alldata.csv; U.S. Census Bureau data file: sub-est2025.csv; Handbook of Texas: Smith County; U.S. Census Bureau data file: co-est2025-alldata.csv. Research notes
  14. 14 U.S. Census Bureau data file: co-est2025-alldata.csv. Research notes