Texas, Florida and Iowa are home to some of America's fastest-growing large counties, per an Axios analysis of the latest census data.

Why it matters: This zoomed-in view offers a close look at population change within individual states — for instance, there's huge growth around Texas' major cities, but many of its rural counties are shrinking.

Driving the news: Kaufman County (+35.2% more people in 2019-2023 compared to 2014-2018), Comal County (+29.2%) and Hays County (+25.6%) — all in Texas — are the country's fastest-growing counties with more than 100,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019-2023 five-year American Community Survey.

• Robeson County, North Carolina (-12.4%); Hinds County, Mississippi (-8%) and Butte County, California (-7.8%) saw the biggest decreases among large counties.

Zoom in: County-level populations either grew or showed little change across a handful of Pacific Northwest and New England states, including Washington, Oregon and Maine.

Threat level: Some of the country's fastest-growing areas are also among the most vulnerable to climate change.

Between the lines: Although Americans sometimes relocate domestically in search of better jobs, lower costs and so on, international migration is the main driver behind population growth at the national level.

• Migration "accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million increase in population between 2023 and 2024," the Census Bureau said in a recent write-up of separate data.
• "This reflects a continued trend of rising international migration, with a net increase of 1.7 million in 2022 and 2.3 million in 2023."

What's next: Population trends could be notably affected by President-elect Trump's plan to deport millions of people.

New U.S. business applications hit a high water mark in 2023, with notable hot spots in the Southeast and Mountain West.

Why it matters: Small businesses are a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, employing tens of millions of Americans.

Driving the news: Americans filed nearly 5.5 million new business applications in 2023, per the U.S. Census Bureau, or about 16.3 for every 1,000 residents.

• That's up from about 5.1 million in 2022 and 3.5 million in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• About 1.8 million of 2023's new businesses are highly likely to hire workers, per the bureau, compared to around 1.3 million in 2018.

Zoom in: Wyoming (100.1), Delaware (53.4) and Florida (29.4) had the highest rates of new business applications per 1,000 residents in 2023.

• The first two are perennial new business favorites for legal and tax reasons.

Stunning stat: Nearly 85% of consumers say they'll probably shop at a small business this holiday season, a new American Express survey finds, up 11 points over the last decade.

Reality check: Filling out the paperwork for a new firm is just one step, but it's at least a sign of confidence that small business success is possible.