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Demographics of Big Spring, TX
Affluence Level in Big Spring, TX
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Big Spring, TX
The people of Big Spring, Texas today number 24,769, a majority-Hispanic community (50.8%) with a significant white minority (38.8%) and smaller Black (5.9%), East/Southeast Asian (0.8%), and Indian-subcontinent (0.4%) populations. The city is notably less college-educated than the state average (14.0% with a bachelor’s degree or higher) and has a foreign-born share of 10.1%, reflecting a working-class, family-oriented character rooted in oil, agriculture, and healthcare employment. Distinctive identity markers include a strong sense of local pride centered on the annual Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo, a visible presence of historic downtown churches, and a population that is both deeply rooted (many families trace back generations) and increasingly diverse through Hispanic growth.
How the city was settled and grew
Big Spring was founded in 1881 as a stop on the Texas and Pacific Railway, drawing its first wave of settlers from the South and Midwest—ranchers, farmers, and railroad workers. The original townsite centered on the spring-fed water source that gave the city its name, with early residential development concentrated in what is now the Downtown Historic District and along the rail corridor. The 1920s oil boom transformed the city: the discovery of the Big Spring Oil Field brought a surge of white and Black workers from East Texas and Oklahoma, many settling in the Southside neighborhood near the refineries and the Northside area around the rail yards. By 1930, the population had tripled to roughly 13,000. The construction of the Big Spring Army Air Field (later Webb Air Force Base) in the 1940s added a military and civilian workforce, with families living in the Westside neighborhoods near the base. These early waves established a pattern of distinct enclaves: white professionals and merchants in the downtown core and west side, working-class whites and Blacks in the south and north, and a small but growing Hispanic population that had arrived as railroad and agricultural laborers, concentrated in the Eastside barrio along the railroad tracks.
Modern era (post-1965)
The post-1965 period brought major demographic shifts. The closure of Webb Air Force Base in 1977 removed a key economic anchor, prompting an out-migration of white families and a simultaneous influx of Hispanic migrants from the Rio Grande Valley and northern Mexico, drawn by oil-field jobs and lower housing costs. The Hispanic share of the population rose from roughly 20% in 1970 to over 50% by 2020 by 2020. This growth concentrated in the Eastside and Southside neighborhoods, which became predominantly Hispanic, while the Westside and Country Club Estates area retained a majority-white character. The Black population, which peaked at around 12% in the 1960s, declined to 5.9% as younger generations left for larger cities; the remaining Black community is centered in the Northside near the historic Mount Olive Baptist Church. East/Southeast Asian and Indian-subcontinent populations remain very small (0.8% and 0.4% respectively), with most families arriving in the 1990s and 2000s as healthcare professionals at the Big Spring State Hospital or as small-business owners, living scattered across the city with no single ethnic enclave.
The future
The population is heading toward continued Hispanicization, with the white share projected to fall below 35% by 2035 if current trends hold. The foreign-born share (10.1%) is likely to plateau as second- and third-generation Hispanic families assimilate linguistically and economically, though new immigration from Central America may sustain modest growth. The city is not tribalizing into rigid enclaves—intermarriage between Hispanic and white residents is common—but the Eastside and Southside will remain predominantly Hispanic, while the Westside and newer subdivisions like Moss Creek will attract a mix of white and Hispanic middle-class families. The Black population is expected to remain stable or decline slightly, and East/Southeast Asian and Indian communities will likely stay small, growing only if healthcare or manufacturing employers recruit internationally. The college-educated share (14.0%) may rise slowly as remote work and oil-industry technical jobs attract some newcomers, but Big Spring will remain a blue-collar, family-oriented city with a strong Hispanic cultural identity.
For someone moving in now, Big Spring is becoming a predominantly Hispanic, working-class community with a stable but shrinking white minority and a small Black presence. The city offers affordable housing and a slower pace of life, but limited professional opportunities and a low educational-attainment base. New residents should expect a culture shaped by West Texas independence and Hispanic family traditions, with distinct neighborhoods reflecting the city’s layered settlement history.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-05-18T14:19:47.000Z
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