ExecutivePulse
Official Federal Data

Brewster County, Texas

FIPS 48043 · Population 9,503
9 Sources Updated June 22, 2026
$56,212
Median Income
$80,734 national
3%
Unemployment
4% national
$611M
GDP
45.5%
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Small population: 9,503 residents. These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates, which carry a wide margin of error for places under 20,000 people. Read each value as an approximate range, and treat year-over-year changes as indicative rather than exact. A small shift can reflect survey sampling, not a real change on the ground.

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$56,212
Per Capita
$38,712
Mean Household
$76,422
Poverty Rate
8.9% approx.
Median Income Comparison
Brewster County$56,212
Texas$78,476
National$80,734

Population Profile

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
65+: 26.5% (2,515 residents) 55-64: 10% (955 residents) 35-54: 20.5% (1,947 residents) 18-34: 26.3% (2,498 residents) Under 18: 16.7% (1,588 residents) 41 Median Age
Cohorts
Under 18 · 16.7%
18-34 · 26.3%
35-54 · 20.5%
55-64 · 10%
65+ · 26.5%
Race & Ethnicity
White68.9%
Black or African American0.6%
Asian1.9%
Hispanic or Latino(any race)42.1%
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
89.2%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▼ 0.4 pts
45.5%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +9.8 pts
17.1%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +3.0 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
9,503
Population
4,807
Labor Force
Employed
4,661
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3% ▲ +0.1 pts YoY
Mean Commute 26 min below national avg
0.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
7.6%
Key Takeaways
  • Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
  • Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 9.8 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$611M
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP1 Regional GDP

Top Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual
Top industries by employment in Brewster County, Texas, with employment, share of top sectors, and average wage
IndustryEmploymentShare of Top 10Avg Wage
1Accommodation and Food Services
954 33.7%
$34,408
2Retail Trade
562 19.9%
$32,924
3Health Care and Social Assistance
344 12.2%
$62,064
4Construction
316 11.2%
$87,645
5Wholesale Trade
154 5.4%
$88,407
6Other Services (except Public Administration)
129 4.6%
$37,748
7Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
118 4.2%
$76,623
8Information
104 3.7%
$69,874
9Finance and Insurance
90 3.2%
$105,960
10Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
56 2.0%
$36,144
Track industry shifts with AI

ExecutivePulse monitors WARN notices, BLS changes, and SEC filings for your top employers.

Learn More
Key Takeaways
  • Largest sector: Accommodation and Food Services employs 954 workers (33.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $34,408.
  • Economic scale: Regional GDP of $611M (2024).
  • Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $105,960 while Retail Trade averages $32,924, a 3.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?

EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.

Get Deeper Trends

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Location Quotient Analysis

Concentrated Industries
Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · Location Quotient vs. national employment share
Same source as the Top Industries table above, sub-sector view surfaces the specialization the supersector view masks (e.g., Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing inside the Manufacturing supersector).
Accommodation
8.71x
486
Animal Production and Aquaculture
7.01x
55
Telecommunications
4.63x
80
3.01x
20
Food and Beverage Retailers
1.71x
161
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
1.63x
104
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1.55x
20

Cluster Depth

Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Accommodation & Food Services Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
486
Cluster Employment
8.71x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Accommodation
8.71x 486
Animal Production and Aquaculture
7.01x 55
Telecommunications
4.63x 80
3.01x 20
Food and Beverage Retailers
1.71x 161
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
1.63x 104
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1.55x 20

Attraction Opportunities

LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.38x
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
118 employed
Key Takeaways
  • Top specialization: Accommodation concentrates at 8.71x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
  • Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
  • Attraction whitespace: 5 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Brewster County's Top Sectors by Workforce Share
Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of total private-sector employment across all NAICS supersectors. Hover for exact employment.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$227,000
Median Home Value vs 2019
$839
Rent/Mo
62.5%
Owner-Occ
16.3%
Vacancy
4.0x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents

Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$772/mo
1 Bedroom
$808/mo
2 Bedroom
$993/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,381/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,461/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,405/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
  • In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.0x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
  • Elevated vacancy: 16.3% vacancy rate. In resort, rural, and seasonal markets much of this is recreational/seasonal (second homes), not available supply; confirm the vacancy-by-reason split before treating it as a redevelopment opportunity.
  • Affordable rent tiers: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,405/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
5,400
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 26 min below national avg
0.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
7.6%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
87.2%
of prime-age population
Labor force participation rate: 60.7% of working-age population (18-64) 61% Participation
▼ vs 2019

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
45.5%
HS Diploma+
89.2%
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
79,681/yr
Texas A&M University-College Station 20,117/yr
The University of Texas at Austin 17,432/yr
Lone Star College System 11,449/yr
Dallas College 10,913/yr
University of Houston 10,852/yr
Texas State University 8,918/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
17.7%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
32.2%
Service
31.2%
Sales & Office
19.1%
Construction / Maint.
10.3%
Production / Transport
7.2%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 4,661 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
  • Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 48,998 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.

AI Insights

AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources

Sample AI Insight

Brewster County shows strong potential for accommodation attraction, with a 8.71x concentration and 486 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.

The interconnected base across accommodation, animal production and aquaculture, and telecommunications creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example

Take it further

AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.

Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.

Schedule a Demo
Available as premium offerings.

Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for Brewster County, Texas, from federal data sources.

What is the population of Brewster County, Texas?

9,503 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in Brewster County, Texas?

$56,212 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in Brewster County, Texas?

3% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of Brewster County, Texas?

$611M (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).