South Texas has a diverse and growing population, with a strong Hispanic influence, younger demographics, and a mix of urban and rural communities. Conducting a detailed location analysis helps you identify key customer segments and tailor marketing and product offerings. You can also position your business where your target audience resides.
Proximity to infrastructure
The region of South Texas incorporates 28 counties located mainly in southern Texas, stretching up the Gulf Coast past Rockport to San Antonio Bay and along the Mexican border from Brownsville to Del Rio. It covers a vast territory with an area exceeding 35,500 square miles. This area boasts critical infrastructure, including ports, border crossings with Mexico, and major highways, like I-35 and I-10. An effective location analysis ensures proximity to transportation hubs for trade and logistics and accessibility to supply chains and distribution networks.
Real estate cost comparison
As of October 2024, real estate property prices in Texas were up 1.3% year-over-year, with homes selling for $345,300 on average. The number of homes for sale rose by 17.6%, and the number of sold homes increased by 10%. However, these are the average statistics: real estate costs and business taxes vary widely across South Texas.
Location analysis enables you to compare costs between urban centers like San Antonio or McAllen and smaller towns, for which you'd benefit from a map of San Antonio zip codes. It also helps evaluate tax incentives or economic zones that favor business expansion and assess property availability and development potential.
Knowing economic and industrial trends
The region's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $117.5 billion in 2022, comprising 4.9% of the state's GDP. However, some industries contribute a larger share to the state economy, which reveals regional industry specialization. In this regard, government enterprises and oil extraction are two highly specialized regional industries, comprising 8.5% resp. 8.1% of Texas' industrial GDP in 2022. Social assistance and healthcare also play a prominent role in the region, accounting for 7% of the state's industrial GDP.
South Texas is also a hub for industries like agriculture and logistics. There are also emerging sectors, such as renewable energy and tech. Location analysis can uncover regions with strong economic growth that align with your industry, competition levels in specific areas, and opportunities for partnerships or supply chain efficiency.
Predicting future growth areas
Location analysis also helps businesses predict future growth areas based on investments in infrastructure projects, population projections, and urban and suburban development trends. The labor market is a key consideration in this context. South Texas has a bilingual workforce with a strong presence in both blue-collar and skilled labor pools. Location analysis can be critical in terms of identifying areas with the talent pool that match a business's needs, as well as understanding wage expectations and labor market trends.
FAQ
Why is Texas a good place to start a business?
Texas is known for welcoming and supporting small business owners apart from having generally enterprise-friendly policies. The Lone Star State boasts a large number of communities and resources for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.
What is the top Texan industry?
The industries with the most significant revenue are gasoline and petroleum wholesaling. It generated $486.5 billion in 2024. The second-largest sector is oil drilling and gas extraction, with revenue of $225.9 billion so far this year. Petroleum refining is close behind, having generated $225.2 billion.
What is the fastest-growing industry?
The construction industry is one of the most dynamically growing in Texas. It employs 763,000 people, who make up 5% of the nonfarm workforce in the state.
