HOUSTON - "We Love Houston!" and so do the millions that call Space City home, but Houston wasn't always the massive metropolis it is now.
Back in 1900, H-Town was home to nearly 45,000 people (44,633) only the 85th largest city in the country. But in the last 118 years, Houston's exploded, more than a 15,000-percent increase to nearly 6.9 million people.
In 2014, things were really booming when the city added nearly 157,000 people to the metro area (156,371). That's nearly 428 people every 24 hours. Sixty-three percent of those people were transplants to Houston.
The growing hasn't stopped, but it has slowed down. From 2016 to 2017, Houston only grew by more than 94,000 people (94,417). That's about 259 new residents every day. Despite the drop, it's still good for second place in the country behind our rival to the north, Dallas.
When you break down all those new people, only about 37,000 (37,722) of them actually moved here from somewhere else.
The population slow down is no reason to panic. Houston still ranks fourth in the nation in growth in the last seven years jumping from 5.92 million in 2010 to 6.89 million in 2017.
Maybe it's the warm weather, the tasty barbecue or that Texas hospitality, but thousands keep choosing to call this great city home.