San Antonio Passes ‘Big D’ in Population

In a state where bigger is better, San Antonio is beaming about its leap ahead of Dallas in population. “I guess the people in Dallas are going to have to stop talking about ‘Big D’ and start talking about ‘Big S.A.,’ ” San Antonio Mayor Howard Peak said with a chuckle. New Census Bureau figures show Dallas grew from 1,007,618 in 1990 to 1,053,292 in 1996, while San Antonio grew from 959,295 to 1,067,816. One reason San Antonio has grown larger than Dallas is because it has had more opportunities to annex outlying unincorporated suburbs. Dallas is surrounded by other incorporated cities that cannot be annexed.