Odessa, TX

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

2024 Population

164,654

US Senator

John Cornyn

Republican Party

US Senator

Ted Cruz

Republican Party

2024 Median Age

31.4

0.319% 1-year increase

2024 Poverty Rate

16.5%

7.71% 1-year increase

2024 Median Household Income

$71,536

0.711% 1-year growth

2024 Median Property Value

$200,200

5.09% 1-year growth

Population & Diversity

Odessa, TX is home to a population of 165k people, from which 89.6% are citizens.

As of 2024, 16.7% of Odessa, TX residents were born outside of the country (27.5k people).

In 2024, there were 1.3 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (47.2k people) in Odessa, TX than any other race or ethnicity. There were 36.3k Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) and 32.6k Other (Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

89.6%

2024 Citizenship

89.8%

2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 89.6% of Odessa, TX residents were US citizens, which is lower than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in Odessa, TX was 89.8%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Odessa, TX compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Odessa, TX

White (Non-Hispanic)
47.2k ± 220
Two Races Including Other (Hispanic)
36.3k ± 3.11k
Other (Hispanic)
32.6k ± 3.08k

63.5%

Hispanic Population

105k people

63.5% of the people in Odessa, TX are hispanic (105k people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in Odessa, TX as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the MSA level, so we are showing data for Texas.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
2,408,340 ± 36,549 people
India
354,317 ± 14,528 people
El Salvador
223,512 ± 11,564 people

In 2024, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Texas was Mexico, the natal country of 2,408,340 Texas residents, followed by India with 354,317 and El Salvador with 223,512.

Foreign-Born Population

16.7%

2024 Foreign-Born Population

27.5k people

16.6%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

27k people

As of 2024, 16.7% of Odessa, TX residents (27.5k people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Odessa, TX was 16.6%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Odessa, TX compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Gulf War (2001-)
1,841 ± 566
Vietnam
1,398 ± 242
Gulf War (1990s)
930 ± 361

Odessa, TX has a large population of military personnel who served in Gulf War (2001-), 1.32 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in Odessa, TX.

Economy

The economy of Odessa, TX employs 75.4k people. In 2024, the largest industries in Odessa, TX were Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (9,479 people), Retail Trade (8,692 people), and Health Care & Social Assistance (8,132 people), and the highest paying industries were Management of Companies & Enterprises ($123,839), Utilities ($101,036), and Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($74,184).

Employment

Occupations

75.4k

2024 Value

± 3,021

−0.159%

1 Year decline

± 5.8%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Odessa, TX declined at a rate of −0.159%, from 75.5k employees to 75.4k employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Odessa, TX, are Construction & Extraction Occupations (8,418 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (7,800 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (7,693 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Odessa, TX.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Texas (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

Industries

Employment by Industries

75.4k

2024 Value

± 3,021

−0.159%

1 Year decline

± 5.8%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Odessa, TX declined at a rate of −0.159%, from 75.5k employees to 75.4k employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Odessa, TX, are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (9,479 people), Retail Trade (8,692 people), and Health Care & Social Assistance (8,132 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Odessa, TX, though some of these residents may live in Odessa, TX and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

$60,467

Median earning men ± $1,416

$38,854

Median earning women ± $2,254

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($76,460), Public Administration ($67,917), and Wholesale Trade ($67,415).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Construction ($80,138), Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($53,267), and Public Administration ($47,360).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

Y-Axis

4.59%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 13.8M people employed in Texas. This represents a 4.59% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 9.63%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Texas.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

218
Transportation and Warehousing
205
Other Services (except Public Administration)
169
Retail Trade

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$760k
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
$489k
Wholesale Trade
$483k
Construction

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Education

The student population of Odessa, TX in 2024 is skewed towards women, with 6,533 male students and 9,033 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Odessa, TX are Hispanic or Latino (1,937 and 62%), White (802 and 25.7%), Black or African American (177 and 5.67%), and Unknown (79 and 2.53%).

The largest universities in Odessa, TX by number of degrees awarded are Odessa College (1,907 and 58.2%) and The University of Texas Permian Basin (1,369 and 41.8%).

The most popular majors in Odessa, TX are General Studies (424 and 12.9%), General Business Administration & Management (398 and 12.1%), and General Psychology (151 and 4.61%).

The median tuition cost for a public four year colleges is $4,909 for in-state students and $11,502 for out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University

Measure

In 2024 in Odessa, TX, the percentage of applicants admitted was 94.9%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 44%. The number of students enrolled in 2024 was 15,566 (42% men and 58% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2024 there were 15,566 students enrolled in Odessa, TX, 42% men and 58% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in Hispanic or Latino with 9,347 records, of which 58.7% were women and 41.3% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

General Studies
424 degrees awarded
General Business Administration & Management
143 degrees awarded
Registered Nursing
69 degrees awarded

In 2024, the most common concentation for Associates Degree recipients in Odessa, TX was General Studies with 424 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Associates Degree from schools in Odessa, TX according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

Odessa College
1,907 degrees awarded
The University of Texas Permian Basin
1,369 degrees awarded

In 2024, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Odessa College with 1,907 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

University

In 2024, 1,268 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Odessa, TX, which is 0.631 times less than the 2,008 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2024, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was Hispanic or Latino students. These 1,937 degrees mean that there were 2.42 times more degrees awarded to Hispanic or Latino students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, White, with 802 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Public, 4-year or above ($4,909) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2024.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,911) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2024.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,067) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Housing & Living

The median property value in Odessa, TX was $200,200 in 2024, which is 0.602 times smaller than the national average of $332,700. Between 2023 and 2024 the median property value increased from $190,500 to $200,200, a 5.09% increase. The homeownership rate in Odessa, TX is 64.7%, which is lower than the national average of 65.2%.

People in Odessa, TX have an average commute time of 25 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Odessa, TX is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Housing

Property

$200,200

Median Property Value 2024

±$9,662

$41,753

Median Property Taxes

±$2,093

The following chart display owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Odessa, TX the largest share of households pay taxes in the $3k+ range.

The chart underneath the paragraph shows the property taxes in Odessa, TX compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies.

Rent vs Own

64.7%

Homeownership

2024

65.4%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2024

In 2024, 64.7% of the housing units in Odessa, TX were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 64.4%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Odessa, TX compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$71,536

Median Household Income

± $3,707

64.6k

Number of Households

± 2,784

In 2024, the median household income of the 64.6k households in Odessa, TX grew to $71,536 from the previous year's value of $71,031.

The following chart displays the households in Odessa, TX distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Odessa, TX is from Texas.

0.475

2024 Wage GINI in Texas

0.475

2023 Wage GINI in Texas

In 2024, the income inequality in Texas was 0.475 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.0391% decline from 2023 to 2024, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Texas was higher than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Texas in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Texas across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024

Drove Alone (83.1%)
Carpooled (11.4%)
Worked At Home (3.2%)

In 2024, 83.1% of workers in Odessa, TX drove alone to work, followed by those who carpooled to work (11.4%) and those who worked at home (3.2%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

25 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Odessa, TX have a shorter commute time (25 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 4.72% of the workforce in Odessa, TX have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Odessa, TX compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Odessa, TX distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Odessa, TX have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

16.5% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Odessa, TX (26.7k out of 162k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 35 - 44 and then Females 6 - 11.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Odessa, TX is Hispanic, followed by White and Other.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798, followed by New York (5,087).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

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