Table of Contents
Inside Front Cover
1
2
6
Welcome Message
Introduction
The Big Picture
Snapshots Across The Region
Inside Back Cover
Coastal Bend
Aransas County
Bee County
Brooks County
Duval County
Jim Wells County
Kenedy County
Kleberg County
Live Oak County
McMullen County
Nueces County
Refugio County
San Patricio County
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
Data Sources
Introduction
This overview of South Texas’s
economic conditions begins with a
look at recent economic and financial
developments at the national level. Our
regional economy is intertwined with the
rest of the world. For this reason, national
and state economic trends influence the
business climate of our local communities.
Our coverage of the region’s economy
first includes some insight into recent
developments in the Corpus Christi metro
area, the key economic engine of the
Coastal Bend. In addition to major
economic and business indicators, we will
describe conditions in the local labor and
housing markets.
We will also take a close look at
individual communities in South Texas. As
with Corpus Christi, the same measures of
economic performance will be applied to
the 12 counties that make up the Coastal
Bend region. Data for the last quarter of
2013 are preliminary estimates. Although
the economic landscape varies strikingly
across this region, most local communities
have experienced much stronger
employment and income growth than
the rest of the nation. One
major source of current
economic growth in South
Texas is, of course, the oil
boom in the Eagle Ford
Shale formation.
Despite impressive
economic progress in
recent years, we should
be mindful of the longterm challenges facing
South Texas. Among other
challenges, local residents
overall are still contending
with income and education
attainment levels well below the national
averages. There is no better time for us to
tackle those chronic problems than now!
Annual Review of the South Texas Economy – 2014 Edition
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