county

Ector County, TX

Demographic and economic profile of Ector County, TX, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Ector County, TX, centered on Odessa, is anchored in the oil and gas industry, reflected in a GDP per capita of $78,559 that far outpaces its median household income of $71,536 and per capita income of $34,459, signaling capital-intensive extraction activity. The county's labor force of roughly 115,000 draws from a population of 170,022 with a notably young median age of 31.4 years, though educational attainment is relatively low at 16.6% holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing remains accessible at a median home value of $190,500, and modest 5-year population growth of 3.1% accompanies a 5.6% unemployment rate and a poverty rate of 15.3%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

170,022

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$71,536

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

31.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+3.1% since 2018

Ector County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone79,219 (48.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race36,657 (22.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone32,878 (20.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone7,352 (4.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races5,245 (3.2%)
  • Asian Alone2,015 (1.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish66,661
  2. 2.Other Indo-European370
  3. 3.Vietnamese366
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic354
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)338

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

30.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

9.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

16.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

5,261

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$78,559

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,459

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance13,660
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining9,704
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)8,692
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities8,054
  5. 5.Construction (Group)6,768

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations20,554
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations16,035
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations15,493
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations12,943
  5. 5.Service Occupations10,391

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 8.58×)10,333
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.77×)7,810
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.34×)7,027
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.28×)2,232
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.16×)9,513

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$190,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,284/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

64.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9996,666 (16.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9995,202 (12.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9994,520 (10.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9993,553 (8.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9992,731 (6.5%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9992,469 (5.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

16.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

77.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

67.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$46,711

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone61,932 (83.1%)
  • Carpooled8,521 (11.4%)
  • Worked At Home2,388 (3.2%)
  • Other849 (1.1%)
  • Walked621 (0.8%)
  • Public Transit151 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.