Midland, TX is Growing in a Sustainable Way

Midland, Texas is breaking records for job creation and overall growth, fueled by the oil and gas industry and accelerated by start-ups and supporting businesses. City leaders, business owners, executives and entrepreneurs are leveraging growth in the energy sector to diversify Midland’s economy and encourage new enterprises. These efforts are paying off as jobs are being created in construction, hospitality, transportation, retail and healthcare, in addition to the oil and gas industry.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Midland is crushing the nation in job growth, stating, “Midland led the nation in job growth, with employment in the West Texas county surging by nearly 12 percent — more than seven times the national average” (Roper, 2019).  This growth is being fueled by the millions of barrels per day being extracted from the Permian Basin, the jobs this activity creates and the money being poured into Midland’s economy. As a result, jobs have been created and wages have increased by 7.4 percent – double the national average (Roper, 2019).

For those concerned about the longevity of the oil and gas industry, it’s important to know that the high level of production does not appear to be slowing down but is expected to increase in the future. According to Dr. M. Ray Perryman, “The US Energy Information Administration expects Permian oil production to continue to rise from about 3.3 million barrels per day in 2018 to 3.9 million in 2019 even with some challenges from pipeline capacity constraints. IHS Markit projects oil production in the Permian could reach 5.4 million barrels per day in 2023 which would be more than double the 2017 levels of production and make it larger than any OPEC country except Saudi Arabia” (Perryman, 2019).  

New technology and an increased global demand are making the sustained production of oil and gas possible, creating growth that is positively impacting local businesses, regardless of their industry. These factors have combined to change what Dr. Perryman calls a “boom and bust” pattern into a sustainable economic driver that “is generating a high level of other business activity for companies across the economy. In addition, oil and gas jobs generally pay well and there are royalties involved, so consumer-oriented impacts are high” (Perryman, 2019).

These impacts are evident in Midland’s placement in the Most Dynamic Metropolitans Report published by the Walton Family Foundation and Heartland Forward. In their 2019 report, Midland was listed as the ‘Most Dynamic Metropolitan’ in the country, stating that the economic performance of Midland is exceptional, both for rapid expansion and for a labor force increase of eight percent in 2018. “Our analysis shows Midland had consistent high-performance metrics. It hailed first in two categories: job growth in 2018 and job growth between December 2017 and December 2018. It ranked in the top 10 in four other index components: third in the growth of average annual pay in 2017; fourth in per capita income in 2016; seventh in real GDP growth in 2017 and eighth in the proportion of total employment at young firms” (Crews, 2019). The report goes on to credit Midland’s strong economy with growth in industries like oil, ranching, agriculture, healthcare, in addition to recent expansions in the aerospace and technology industries. For example, “The Midland Altitude Chamber Complex supports the testing and qualification of space and pressure suits, payloads, components and trains new flight crews. RBC | Sargent Aerospace & Defense, a leading provider of precision-engineered customized components and aftermarket aviation services, has expanded in the metro area, along with several other aerospace suppliers establishing operations.  As demand in aerospace has increased so has the need for information technology service firms. Percento Technologies has located in the metro area” (Crews, 2019).

The diversity of Midland’s economy is the result of focused economic development efforts combined with an energy that is attracting entrepreneurs, investors and those desiring to be in a vibrant community. It is this diversity combined with the ability to leverage phenomenal growth in the oil and gas industry that has caused Midland to grow in a sustainable way and will enable continued growth well into the future.

We invite you to learn more about Midland and to become part of our incredible growth.

References

Crews, R. D. (2019). Most Dynamic Metropolitans. Little Rock: Walton Family Foundation.

Perryman, D. M. (2019, February 18). Oil and gas and the economy . Retrieved from Perryman Group.

Roper, J. C. (2019, February 20). Midland crushes nation in creating new jobs. Retrieved from Houston Chronicle.