Demographics of Bexar County and San Antonio

The University of Texas Information Architecture Group DS003

Demographics of Bexar County and San Antonio

The San Antonio Public Library serves a diverse local community. The following document describes the demographics of the city of San Antonio and Bexar County along the lines of age, household buying power, education level, number of schools in the district, and ethnic makeup.

According to 1999 data, the city of San Antonio had a population of 1,544,390. Preschoolers (age 0-5) made up 10% of the population. Elementary age students constituted another 10% as well as the middle school/high school students. The 18-24 year old group, which is made up of college student and those just entering the job market, represented another 10% of the population. Those between the ages of 25 and 64 made up the majority of the population (51%). The remaining 10% of the population is 65 or over. The following chart depicts this information.

Bexar County is made up of 482,563 households. The majority of households (65%) have a head of household between the ages of 25 and 54. A small percent (6%) of the households are headed by someone under the age of 25 and the remainder (29%) are headed by someone 55 or older. The average household size is 2.8 persons with the majority (53%) of the households having either one or two occupants. The following two charts show this information.

Households within Bexar County had a total Estimated Buying Income (EBI) of $22,235,370,000 in 1999. 38% of the households had an EBI of less than $24,999. Those with an EBI of $25,000 to $49,999 made up another 32% of the households and the remaining 30% of the households hade an EBI of $50,000 or more. During 1999, residents spent $279,148,000 on televisions, video recorders and tape. An additional $74,149,000 was spent on computer hardware and software. The following chart shows the breakdown of EBI by household.

The San Antonio Independent School District has a total of 94 campuses: 64 elementary schools, 17 middle schools, 8 high schools and 5 special schools. The ethnic makeup of the students within the district is as follows: 85% Hispanic, 10% Black, 4% White, .3% Asian and .1% American Indian. For the 1999-2000 school year the district budgeted $7,653,495.77 for the Instruction Resources and Media Services line item. This line item is used to establish and maintain libraries, resource centers and other major facilities dealing with educational resources and media.

According to 1999 data, the ethnic breakdown of the population had strong white and Hispanic influences. 91% of the population considered themselves white and 55% considered themselves Hispanic. The discrepancy in these numbers is probably explained by the fact that some people from Hispanic background are also considered white. Blacks made up 7% of the population and Asian/Pacific persons represented 2% of the population.

Highlight of San Antonio’s demographics are that it has two large ethnic groups: white and Hispanics. The largest percent of the population are middle-aged adults. Over half of the jobs in the city are in white-collar industries and two-thirds of the households have EBI under $50,000.