Why Do So Few People Live in Vast West Texas?

Texas is the second largest state by population and area size. But this population is not spread out equally. Out of 30 million total people on 270,000 square miles of land, over 80% of the population, about 24 million people, live on less than 30% of all of Texas' land. So why do so few Texans live in West Texas if there's so much more space? Well, to answer that, we need to first go back in time. A lot of people live in Texas today, but that wasn't always the case. It took until 1970 for the state to surpass 10 million people, a feat that California reached in 1950, despite not becoming its own state five full years after Texas. But first, let's rewind and talk about who originally lived in Texas and how the state even came to be in the first place. As is the case with every state in the United States, indigenous peoples, including the Caddo, Comanche, and Apache, were the first to call this region home. And while the first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish, it would actually be the French who would first colonize what would become Texas. In the early 1500s, Spanish explorers arrived, claiming the land for Spain. But then they basically ignored the area for the next 150 years. And because it was ignored, the French accidentally established the first European colony in Texas in 1684, about 50 miles northeast from the modern city of Corpus Christi. For their part, the French were trying to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River, but miscalculated where it was. Realizing that France had now established a fort on their claimed land, the Spanish moved in and began colonizing the area. The Spanish built their first mission in 1690, Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, better known today as San Antonio. Between 1690 and 1820, Spain would build dozens of missions and forts all throughout modern-day Texas. In the early 1800s, Texas became part of Mexico after it gained independence from Spain. But its isolation from Mexico City made it a backwater. To strengthen its northern frontier, Mexico invited American settlers through the impresario system, offering land in exchange for loyalty and conversion to Catholicism. However, cultural differences, governance disputes, and Mexico's abolition of slavery fueled tensions, culminating in the Texas Revolution of 1836. After key battles like the Alamo and San Jacinto, Texas declared independence as the Republic of Texas. But struggling with financial instability, border disputes, and threats for Mexico, Texas joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state. This annexation heightened tensions, leading to the Mexican-American War, which ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, solidifying Texas's borders and adding vast territories to the U.S. Initially, Texas's borders extended further west and north, encompassing parts of what is now New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma. However, in 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, Texas ceded significant territory to the federal government in exchange for debt relief, shaping the state's current boundaries. And thus, the Texas we know today was born. But even historically, Texas wasn't developed equally. And this lies, in part, due to the physical geography of Texas. Texas's physical geography is more varied than you probably think. Spanning nearly 270,000 square miles, it's the second-largest state in the United States. And because of this, it encompasses a diverse array of landscapes, from forests and plains to deserts and mountains. This variety owes much to Texas's position at the meeting point of several major geographic regions, including the Gulf Coast, the Great Plains, the Basin and Range, and the arid Chihuahuan Desert. So, starting in the southeast, the Gulf Coast is a region of low-lying plains, sandy beaches, and marshlands. Texas's coastline is shaped by the Gulf of Mexico, whose waters provide vital economic and ecological resources, such as fisheries and oil extraction. These coastal areas are home to major urban centers such as Houston, which houses deep, natural harbors perfect for ports. And the barrier islands, including Galveston Island and Padre Island, which form a natural buffer against the forces of the Gulf. This effectively shields Texas's coastal cities from large waves during heavy storms. Moving north, the Piney Woods dominate the landscape, a region characterized by dense forests, abundant rainfall, and fertile soils. This area, part of the larger Gulf Coastal Plain, is dotted with rivers and streams that wind through verdant woodlands, supporting rich ecosystems and agricultural productivity. Further west lies the High Plains, a flat, windswept expanse that stretches towards the horizon. This region is part of the Great Plains, which has a semi-arid climate, deep canyons, and vast agricultural fields. The High Plains give way to the Trans-Picos region in far west Texas, where the landscape transitions dramatically to the arid Chihuahuan Desert, home to rugged mountain ranges such as the Davis, Chisos, and Guadalupe Mountains. Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas, rises to 8,751 feet, which is a bit surprising given that Texas isn't culturally known as a mountainous state. Texas's rivers also play a crucial role in shaping its geography, with the Red River, Brazos River, Colorado River, and Rio Grande among the most significant. The Rio Grande in particular defines much of the state's southern border, winding through canyons and deserts before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. These waterways have long been lifelines for human settlement and agriculture, providing essential resources in a landscape often marked by extremes. When you look at the state as a whole, Texas gets drier as you move from the eastern areas to the western half. And this leads us to our final question as part of this video. Why don't more people live in the expansive West Texas? At over 30 million people on 270,000 square miles of land, Texas is both the second largest state in the country by population and area size. But that doesn't mean its people are equally spread out. In fact, the opposite is true. The overwhelming majority of Texas's population, about 24 million people, lies in the far eastern part of the state, leaving just 6 million in the vast expanse of the West. And while it may seem like the climate is the clearest answer here, this disparity is due to a combination of historic, geographic, economic, and climatic factors, all of which have played a role in shaping settlement patterns and the state's modern demographic landscape. Texas's geography is surprisingly varied, spanning nearly 270,000 square miles and encompassing forests, plains, deserts, and mountains. Its variety stems from its position at the intersection of major geographic regions, including the Gulf Coast, Great Plains, Basin and Range, and the Chihuahuan Desert. But by and large, Texas gets drier as you move from east to west. This is because the climate of the two regions is markedly different. East Texas, contrary to the popular conception of Texas as a wild west-style desert, is fairly lush. Much of East Texas averages about 40 inches of rain per year, with some parts getting as much as 70 inches. To put this number in perspective, Seattle, Washington, well known for its rain, only averages about 40 inches per year. In contrast, West Texas is far drier and lacks a lot of the water resources and rain that enables the essentials of human life. El Paso, Texas's far west metropolitan area, only gets about 8 inches of rain per year. This means that early settlements would have had a much more difficult time surviving. But of course, today the United States is home to many large metropolitan regions that exist in deserts, such as Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. So this climatic difference can't be the only explanation at play. The economics of Texas also explain the state's incredible population disparity. During the early 1900s, East Texas became an economic hub for the country for one reason, oil. In the early 1900s, the discovery of oil outside Beaumont, Texas started a boom that attracted workers and industries, leading to the rapid growth of towns and cities. Houston, the largest city in Texas today, emerged as a major economic center due to its strategic location near the Gulf Coast and its role in the energy sector. And other cities like Dallas and Austin benefited from their positions within the more hospitable environment of Central and East Texas, further concentrating population growth in this part of the state. At the same time, West Texas developed on a much smaller scale. Ranching became the dominant industry, taking advantage of the vast open spaces provided by the Great Plains. But this industry in particular required far fewer people than the oil industry, which led to fewer urbanized areas. And while eventually oil was discovered in West Texas as well, particularly in the Permian Basin, it happened well after Houston became the dominant center for Texas' energy industry. Smaller cities such as Midland and Odessa grew as centers of the West Texas oil industry, but they remained relatively small compared to their eastern counterparts, where oil money still flowed. Now, money has a funny way of impacting regions around the world. When a particular area begins attracting population and a large economic base, it spawns an equally impressive infrastructure system, which then contributes to more people moving to the region. So it's no surprise then that infrastructure today plays a key role in this divide. East Texas has long been more integrated into transportation and trade networks of the United States, with major highways, railroads, and airports all linking its cities to the rest of the country and the world. The Port of Houston is the largest port in the country, with over 275 million tons of cargo moving through their terminals every single year. This port serves as a gateway for international trade, enhancing the economic vitality of East Texas. West Texas, by contrast, remains far more isolated. While Interstates 10 and 20 connect El Paso to Dallas and Houston respectively, there's not much else to really enhance interstate trade and transportation. This isolation has made it less attractive for businesses and industries that rely on connectivity and access to markets. Though it should be pointed out that Juarez, on the Mexico side of the border near El Paso, is a fairly large metro region with approximately 1.5 million people. Because of this infrastructure, urbanization has cemented East Texas' dominance in terms of population. Metropolitan areas like Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin have become economic powerhouses, attracting people from across the state, the country, and the world. These cities offer job opportunities, cultural amenities, and educational institutions, making them magnets for migration. In contrast, the smaller cities of West Texas lack the same level of economic and cultural pull, resulting in slower population growth and less urban development. But one thing West Texas does have are unique cultural and natural attractions that draw people to the region, such as Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and the Davis Mountains. While these areas offer opportunities for recreation and tourism, they haven't translated into significant and permanent population growth. Today, Texas is home to a little more than 30 million people, 24 million in the East, and 6 million in the West. This is a huge population discrepancy, and it's primarily because the East is now where the state's major cities are located. Dallas is the largest metro region in Texas with 8.1 million people. This would be quickly followed by Houston with 7.5 million, San Antonio with 2.7 million, and then Austin with 2.5 million people. By contrast, West Texas' largest metro region is McAllen with 900,000 people, followed by El Paso with 873,000, Corpus Christi with 450,000, and Brownsville with 426,000 people. Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa, and Midland make up the remainder of West Texas' urbanized areas, all with fewer than 400,000 people. Everything is bigger in Texas, or so they say. But the reality is that the vast majority of Texans live in a relatively small part of the state. Speaking of big empty areas, come watch me explore one of my very favorite empty areas of the country, America's empty West Coast, while also enjoying a little bit of van life. I hope you enjoyed learning all about the differences between East Texas and West Texas. If you did, why not check out this video on America's empty Appalachia. Thanks for watching. See you next week.