Austin Chamber of Commerce Market Stats

Thursday, May 01, 2008

by Kent Redding & Terrill Fischer

We recently had a presentation from the Austin Chamber of Commerce and here are the market statistics they showed us.....

In the past ten years, Austin's population has increased by 487,000.
1,000 persons per week are moving into Austin MSA
By the year 2030, Austin's MSA population is predicted to be 3.5 mil
Williamson county has increased by 53% since 2004.
Williamson county population is expected to be 1 mil by 2030
20% of jobs in Austin require a Bachelor Degree
42% of workers have a Bachelor Degree creating approx. 80K workers are underemployed
Professional/Business Services have added the most jobs in the last 12 months
Since 2000 Austin MSA has experienced approx 14% decline in Hi Tech jobs
Hi Tech compensation has declined 7% since 2000. Private sector wages have increased 6%
There are approx 3000 Hi Tech companies within the Austin MSA which comprise 33% of total payroll
The average income for Hi Tech workers is $80K
Residential building permits peaked in 2005
Austin had an average of 4 months inventory of residential properties available for purchase in 2007. In 2008, this number has increased to 4.7 months. The nationwide average is 6 months, so Austin is below the average in respect to residential inventory.
Austin is one of the nation's biggest targets in Venture Capital.
Austin's MSA population is less than 7% of Texas' population, but holds 48% of Venture Capital funding in Texas.
129 companies relocated to Austin since 2004
34 companies relocated to Austin from other cities within Texas. California follows in second with 29 companies relocating to Austin, and 17 companies have relocated internationally to Austin.
The Chamber's plan is to bring 72K jobs to Austin within the next five years
And last, but not least.........By the time you drive home this evening, there will be 84 more vehicles on the roads than there were whenever you went to work.