WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS COMMUNITY PROFILE Photo by Robert Johnstonbaugh Updated September 2021 Photo by David Barnard Wichita Falls At A Glance ................................ 3 Geography ...................................................4-6 Climate ............................................................ 7 Airports ........................................................... 8 Military Overview ......................................9-10 Population .................................................... 11 Healthcare .................................................... 11 Photo by David Barnard Labor Analysis .............................................. 12 Income .......................................................... 13 Cost of Living Index ...................................... 14 Housing ......................................................... 15 Tax Rate ......................................................... 16 Gross Domestic Product ............................... 16 Incentives.................................................17-19 Properties ..................................................... 19 Business Development ................................ 20 Education & STEAM ...................................... 21 Photo by David Barnard Top Employers .............................................. 22 Quality of Life ............................................... 23 Lifestyle/Amenities ..................................24-25 Tourism ......................................................... 26 Cover Photo provided by Tony Krupp 2 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com #1 BEST PLACE FOR WORKING PARENTS - SMART ASSET WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AT A GLANCE Home to Sheppard Air Force Base, the area’s A business-friendly environment has helped to largest employer, Wichita Falls is a proud military encourage local expansion and recruitment. There is community. Sheppard gives the community a unique an immense amount of support and encouragement perspective on diversity and inclusivity as they throughout the community for small businesses and employ people from all over the nation and up to 14 entrepreneurs. different NATO countries as part of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. Quality of life is a priority and the community strives to foster growth and innovation as we look toward a With an amazing cost of living and a community sustainable future. that prides itself on embracing everyone, it’s easy to understand why people come to visit and never Contact us to get a closer look at everything Wichita leave. Falls, Texas, has for you! ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STAFF at the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce TRAVIS HAGGARD HENRY FLORSHEIM VP of Business Retention & Expansion President/CEO [email protected] [email protected] DAVID LEEZER TAYLOR DAVIS VP of Business Attraction Director, Wichita Falls Talent Partnership [email protected] Military Liaison [email protected] SHAY JONES KATIE BRITT Director of Business Intelligence Director of Marketing [email protected] [email protected] KAREN BIVONA Office Manager [email protected] 3 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com GEOGRAPHY Wichita Falls is conveniently located in North Texas with approximate coordinates of 33.91° Latitude N and 98.50° Longitude W. Located less than a two hour drive from both Dallas/Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls offers scores of routes and effortless road travel in and out of the city. Amarillo Wichita Co. Clay Co. Lubbock Archer Co. FT. Worth Dallas El Paso TEXAS Austin Houston Corpus Christi Wichita Falls, Texas MSA is defined as the following counties: Archer County, Texas Clay County, Texas Wichita County, Texas 4 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com To Oklahoma City 1740 171 To Amarillo 240 44 367 3393 3393 1634 1B 277 277 240 369 79 287 277 281 To Dallas 277 2650 79 281 To Dallas/Austin Lake Wichita 5 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com DRIVE TIME Easily accessible freeways and highways include I-44, U.S. Highways 82, 281, 277, 287 and Texas State Route 79. These highways make for a straightforward commute to other cities in Texas or out-of-state to Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana. Wichita Falls’ neighbors include Burkburnett, Archer City, Iowa Park and Henrietta. #14 TOP UNDER-THE- RADAR CITIES TO 15.5 MIN. LIVE IN TEXAS Average Commute Time Source: www.census.gov 6 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com Photo by David Barnard CLIMATE Average Temperatures......H/L January ............................57/29 February ......................... 61/32 March ...............................71/41 April .................................79/49 Annual Averages: May .................................. 86/59 Clear Days ..........................152 June ................................ 93/67 Partly Cloudy Days ..............93 July .................................. 98/72 Cloudy Days .......................120 August ............................. 98/71 Rain ................................. 28.9” September ...................... 90/63 October ........................... 80/51 November ....................... 68/40 December ....................... 58/31 Photo by Katie Britt Wichita Falls experiences periodic cloud cover with overcast or mostly cloudy conditions throughout the month of September. The clearest day of the month is September 30, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 74% of the time. Cooler temperatures, length of daylight, and precipitation will gradually change fall foliage around the city. As the leaves change to various shades of yellow, orange, brown, or red, it’s a nice reminder the Fall Season officially starts on Wednesday, September 22nd. Source: Weatherspark.com Photo by Katie Britt 7 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com Photo by Katie Britt WICHITA FALLS REGIONAL AIRPORT (SPS) The Wichita Falls Regional Airport is a joint Military/Civilian Airport utilizing the runways and taxiways of Sheppard Air Force Base. The airport is served by American Eagle, with daily service to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. More Info: flywichitafalls.net KICKAPOO AIRPORT Kickapoo Airport serves the general aviation needs of Wichita Falls and North Texas. Approximately 80 aircraft, including small jets and helicopters, are housed and maintained at Kickapoo on a permanent basis. The airport is minutes away from downtown businesses, area restaurants and shopping. 8 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE Sheppard Air Force Base Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program 80th Flying Training Wing 82nd Training Wing Sheppard Air Force Base Economic Impact Area Military Exits Qualified Airmen HISTORY & COMBAT CAPABILITY On December 6, 1940, Sidney Kring, (Wichita$5.6 Falls Chamber Billion of SAFB is the largest, most diverse training base consisting of Commerce Manager) flew to Chanute FieldEconomic to present Output the City of airmen/airwomen, civilians, and contractors from Belgium, Wichita Falls’ formal5,736 bid proposal for a technical school which Canada, Denmark, Germany,317 Greece, Italy, The Netherlands,6,600 Acres in Wichita County S.A.F.B Combat pilot training was approved and accepted. Sheppard Air Force Base (SAFB) Norway, Portugal, Spain,Wichita Turkey, Falls, TX the United Kingdom, and was named in honor of Texas senator,$ John$2 Morris Billion Sheppard, across the United States. former chairman2nd of the Senate Military AffairsS.A.F.B. Generated Committee. Disposable Personal Income 249 19,300 Busiest Joint-use aireld Today, the City of WichitaFt. Falls, Sill Wichita Falls ChamberQualied of airmen each year Sheppard Air ForceOutside Base Of A Combat hosts Zone the 82nd Training36,970 Wing and Commerce, and SheppardLawton, Air OKForce Base have developed a support the 80th Flying Training Wing which Direct/indirectprovides Employment technical long-standing partnership to promote growth, prosperity, and training to over 65,000Source: students sheppard.af.mil who areSource: from Texas Comptroller across ofthe Public Accounts inclusionSource: throughout JobsEQ® the community. Source: sheppard.af.mil country and around the globe. SAFB hosts the world’s only Military exits data as of scal year 2016 internationally staffed and operated Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) program. Source: Texas Military Preparedness Commission Biennial Report 2019-2020 ESTIMATED CONTRIBUTION OF SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE TO THE TEXAS ECONOMY, 2019 Direct Employment Disposable Personal Income Output 9,576 $1,277,701,000 $4,629,008,000 SHEPPARD AFB: TOTAL EMPLOYMENT* 22,323 * Total refers to both direct & indirect employment Sheppard Air Force Base: www.sheppard.af.mil/ #3 Source: Texas Comptroller BEST CITIES FOR EARLY #12 Top 40 Friendly and Frugal Places to Retire -MSN RETIREMENT - FORBES 9 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com SHEPPARD AFB: ECONOMIC IMPACT 287 AREA MILITARY EXITS QUALIFIED AIRMEN ANNUAL AVERAGES S.A.F.B. | Wichita234 Falls, TX 5,736Acres in Combat160+ Pilots Per Year Wichita County Ft. Sill | 499 Lawton, OK Qualified19,300 Airmen Each Year Busiest2ND joint-use airfield Source: JobsEQ® outside of a combat zone Military exits data as of fiscal year 2016 Sheppard.af.mil 10 940.723.2741 WichitaFallsChamber.com DiscoverWichitaFalls.com WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, MSA POPULATION GENERATIONAL POPULATION REGIONAL