Austin, Texas

"Austin" redirects here. For the British motor manufacturer, see Austin Motor Company.

Austin
State capital
Downtown Austin skyline Texas State Capitol Congress Avenue Bridge Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Main Building at the University of Texas at Austin Paramount Theatre Laguna Gloria
Flag Coat of arms
Nicknames:  Live Music Capital of the World, Silicon Hills, ATX, City of the Violet Crown
Motto:  Keep Austin Weird (unofficial)
Interactive map of Austin
Coordinates: 30°16′2″N 97°44′35″W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Travis, Hays, Williamson
Settled	1835; 190 years ago (1835)
Incorporated	December 27, 1839; 185 years ago (1839-12-27)
Named for	Stephen F. Austin
Government
• Type	Council–manager
• Mayor	Kirk Watson (D)[a]
• City Council	Members Natasha Harper-Madison (D) Vanessa Fuentes (D) Jose Velasquez (D) Jose "Chito" Vela (D) Ryan Alter (D) Mackenzie Kelly (R) Leslie Pool (D) Paige Ellis (D) Zohaib "Zo" Qadri (D) Alison Alter (D)
• City manager	T.C. Broadnax[1]
Area [2]
• State capital	326.51 sq mi (845.66 km^2)
• Land	319.94 sq mi (828.64 km^2)
• Water	6.57 sq mi (17.02 km^2)
• Metro	4,285.70 sq mi (11,099.91 km^2)
Elevation [3]	489 ft (149 m)
Population  (2022)U.S. Census Estimates
• State capital	974,447
• Rank	33rd in North America 10th in the United States 4th in Texas
• Density	3,006.36/sq mi (1,160.76/km^2)
• Urban	1,809,888 (US: 29th)
• Urban density	2,921.0/sq mi (1,127.8/km^2)
• Metro [4]	2,421,115 (US: 26th)
Demonym	Austinite
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes	73301, 73344, 78681, 78701–78705, 78708–78739, 78741–78742, 78744–78768, 78772–78774, 78778–78779, 78783, 78799
Area codes	512 & 737
FIPS code	48-05000[5]
GNIS feature ID	1384879[3]
Website	austintexas.gov

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Travis County. Austin is the 11th-largest city in the United States, and the 4th-largest in Texas. Its population in 2020 was 961,855.^[6] The University of Texas at Austin is located there.

Austin is frequently called the "Live Music Capital of the World". Several Fortune 500 companies have their main offices (also known as the headquarters) and regional offices in Austin.

History

Austin was first called Waterloo in 1835. In 1839, it was chosen to be the capital city of The Republic of Texas and named for Stephen F. Austin. The University of Texas at Austin was founded in 1883.

In March 2018, a series of bombings occurred in Austin killing two people.^[7]

Climate

Austin has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Koeppen climate classification) with hot summers and mild winters. The city rarely gets snow at all and frosts are infrequent.

Government

The current mayor of Austin is Steve Adler.

Austin also has a city council with ten district representatives plus the mayor.

Business

Many businesses have their main offices in or near Austin, including AMD, Dell, Freescale Semiconductors, PayPal, and Whole Foods.

Famous Destinations

-6th Street (Also known as Pecan Street): Known for various bars, including old fashioned saloons, dive bars, gay bars, etc. Most of these bars host live music.

-Mount Bonnell: The highest point in Austin, TX. Come here for romantic moments and beautiful nature in front of scenic vistas.

-Capitol Building: Taller than the U.S. Capitol.

-Congress Ave.: One of the main streets of the city. Famous for the bat bridge which hosts millions of Mexican Free-Tail Bats. South Congress Ave. (Aka SOCO) is a famous tourist district with unique and odd shops, trailer park eats, and more live music.

Sports

The sports team of the University of Texas at Austin is known as the Texas Longhorns.

Austin is the largest city in the United States without a major-league professional sports team.^[8]

Formula One has made an agreement with the city of Austin to host the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in the city. A new racetrack was built to host the race.^[9] The United States Grand Prix began taking place in Austin since 2012.

References

1. "Government". austintexas.gov. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
2. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
3. "Austin, Texas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
4. "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
5. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Austin city, Texas". American Factfinder. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
6. "QuickFacts: Austin city, Texas". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
7. Alejandra Matos, Austin Police increase reward for information in bombings case, Houston Chronicle (March 18, 2018).
8. "Ten largest cities without a major pro sports franchise in North America". Yahoo! Sports. June 10, 2011. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
9. "Formula One returns to the United States". formula1.COM. Formula One Administration Ltd. Retrieved 2010-05-27.

Notes

1. All elected officials in the city of Austin are officially nonpartisan; party affiliation is for informational purposes only.