Civilian Labor Force (CLF): The most recent civilian labor force estimates from TWC for Texas statewide in July 2003 is 11,104,209 which is an increase in the labor force of 212,455 persons since July 2002.  This represents a 2.0 percent change in Texas during this time period. Freestone County had a civilian labor force of 9,380 for July 2003 which was a change of 447 in CLF since July 2002.  This change represented an increase of 5.0 percent for the study area.

The City of Fairfield is a member of the TWC Heart of Texas local workforce board area.

Industries: The reported wage and salary employment distribution for the Freestone County region by major industry sector for 1st Quarter 2001 is as follows:

Economic Diversification: Relative to the Texas economy, the CDR economic diversification index measures the degree to which a county economy is diversified.  Significant concentrations of employment in only one or two industrial sectors makes an area less diversified and more susceptible to widespread economic decline should a key sector suffer a significant loss.  While economic diversification or a balanced distribution of employment across all major industry sectors, is generally desirable, in some cases, especially where a region is exploiting a comparative advantage (such as access to raw materials, access to transportation routes, etc.) a statistically diverse economy does not necessarily correlate with higher growth.  Of the three levels of diversification ranging from below average, average and above average, Freestone County had an economic base which is of above average diversity.

Occupations: The best source of occupational information at the county level is from the 2000 Census.  The total number of persons 16 years of age or older who were employed in Freestone County during the 2000 Census was 6,967.  The following presents a table of those employed by occupational categories for this region compared to statewide percentages:  

Class of Worker: Another way to view the types of workers in an area's labor force is by class of worker.  According to the 2000 Census, the area had 4,634 employees who were private wage and salary workers representing 66.5 percent of all workers.  The region had another 1,473 persons who were government workers or 21.1 percent, 810 who were self employed workers or 11.6 percent and 50 who were unpaid family workers representing 0.7 percent.  This compares to the Texas statewide distribution of 78.0 percent for private wage and salary workers, 14.6 percent for government workers, 7.1 percent for self employed, and 0.3 for unpaid family workers.

Unemployment: According to TWC unemployment figures for July 2003 Freestone County had an unemployment estimate of 529 persons which represents a rate of 5.6 compared to a Texas statewide unemployment rate of 7.1 for the same month.  For the area these estimates represent an increase from July 2002 unemployment rate of 5.5 percent.  The Texas statewide unemployment rate was 6.9 for July2002. For the latest unemployment rates, see TWC's LMI website - Unemployment Rates. 

Reporting Establishments: The TWC indicates 344 business reporting units operating in Freestone County in the first quarter of 2001 with an average of 21.78 workers per unit.  Average firm size makes a difference for job hunting and job development strategy because larger firms tend to have better defined ports of entry and in-house training capabilities.  Although definitions vary greatly, small business can be defined as less than 50 workers and medium sized is 250 or less.  The Texas average is 20.9 workers per unit.  Regions with higher than average number of workers per unit tend to be dominated economically by a few very large employers.  

Employment in Agriculture: Total wage and salary agricultural employment is reported to TWC from a combination of two Standard Industrial Classification groups: SIC 01 Agricultural Production - Crops and SIC 02 Agricultural Production - Livestock and Animal Specialties.  This estimate excludes a significant level of employment since many are not wage and salaried employees.  Under a project with the Texas Agriculture Statistics Service and CDR, unique agricultural detail is reported.  These agricultural categories reveal 1,070 self-employed farmers and ranchers in October 1998.  For the same period the total number of farm workers is 1,390.  This data is not seasonally adjusted and could be higher or lower for any given planting or harvesting season.  The total number of unpaid family workers is 170.  

Commuting to Work: Commuting to work for workers 16 years and over has a number of implications for transportation and municipal services study. Freestone County had a total of 5,331 or 78.1 percent who drove their car to work alone, 955 or 14.0 percent who car pooled, 3 or 0.0 percent used public transportation, 206 or 3.0 percent who walked to work, 79 or 1.2 percent of regional workers who used other means to work, and 256 or 3.7 percent who worked at home.  These methods of commuting to work compare to the Texas statewide results by: car alone (77.7%), car pool (14.5%), public transportation (1.9%), walked (1.9%), other means (1.3%), and worked at home (2.8%).  The average travel time to work in minutes was 23.80 for the region as compared to an overall statewide average of 25.4 minutes.  

Employers by Employee Size Class: According to the information used by the SOCRATES Employer module which utilizes information from the American List Council for Texas by July, 2001, the area had approximately 103 establishments which employed 10 or more employees.  Of these employers, approximately 0.0 percent employed over 1000 employees.  0.0 percent employed between approximately 500 and 999 employees, 3.9 percent employed between approximately 100 and 499 employees, 12.6 percent employed between 50 and 99 employees, 33.0 percent employed between 20 and 49 employees, and 50.5 percent employed between approximately 10 and 19 employees.

Education

 The total number of public independent school districts in Freestone County for the school year 1999-2000 was 4 according to the Texas Education Agency. The overall average daily attendance for the same year was 2,964.  

Enrollment: School enrollment data from the 2000 Census showed that there were 4,486 persons in the population who were 3 years of age and older and enrolled in school in the study area during the census collection period. Of this population, the following table shows a breakdown of what types of schools persons were enrolled compared to similar statewide information:

Educational Attainment: The total number of persons 25 years of age or older who responded to the level of educational attainment during the 2000 Census was 12,085. Of those persons, the following presents a table on various levels of educational attainment for this region compared to statewide percentages:  

Another useful grouping of these statistics shows that the percent of high school graduates or higher was 76.8 percent for the area compared to 75.7 percent for Texas. Also, the percent with bachelor's degree or higher was 10.9 percent as compared to 23.2 percent for Texas.

Dropout and Attrition Rates: Information from the Texas Education Agency on student dropouts from public schools for 2000-2001 shows that 7 students, grades 7-12, dropped out of school in this study area. This represents a dropout rate of 0.43 percent as compared to a Texas statewide percentage of 0.93 percent of all students who dropped out during this period. Attrition rates are often viewed as measures of the percentage of students that begin high school but do not graduate with a diploma. It is arguably a more reasonable way to view dropouts from an economic viewpoint. One way to view educational progress in a region is to estimate the number of persons who persist to high school graduation as opposed to standard dropout statistics. Attrition rates are calculated by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). IDRA conducts research and development activities; creates, implements and administers innovative education programs; and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance. The attrition rates for Freestone County during the period 2000-2001 by race and ethnicity were 28 percent for all students, 29 percent for Blacks, 26 percent for Whites, and 47 percent for Hispanics.

Income

Personal Income: For Freestone County total personal income, farm and non-farm, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), was a total of $329,466,000 in 2000, which represented an increase of 11.8 percent when compared to 1998 total personal income of $294,767,000.  This increase is compared to a statewide increase of 13.6 percent during the same period.  Total personal income is a widely used measure of regional economic health while per capita income is generally used to compare the relative well-being of residents across areas (not accounting for differences in area cost of living).  The per capita personal income for 2000 was $18,400 in Freestone County while Texas had a per capita income of $27,752.  This area showed farm earnings to be -1.3 percent of total personal income for 2000 compared to 0.7 percent statewide for the same time period. Income from all government and government enterprises for the area was a total of $38,340,000 for the year 2000.  This was an increase of 8.0 percent from the 1998 figure of $35,516,000.  Texas statewide had an increase of 12.5 percent for government income.  Military income, excluding federal civilian income, for 2000 was $658,000 compared to $591,000 in 1998 for the study area.  This was an increase of 11.3 percent compared to statewide change of 9.4 percent for the same period. 

Government Transfer Payments: The Freestone County region received over $72,835,000 in transfer of payments in FY2000 which reflected a $4,068 per capita transfer payment compared to the Texas per capita payment of $4,536.  Transfer payments include the total amount of government allocations to people who qualify for income assistance. This consists largely of supplemental security income payments, family assistance, general assistance payments, food stamp payments, and other assistance payments, including emergency assistance.  

Residence Adjustment: Some areas function as major employment centers and others serve as "bedroom communities". This means that residents may work in one region but live, pay taxes and spend most of their income in their resident region.  The degree to which a regional area serves as a bedroom community can be measured by a "residence adjustment" to the area personal income.  The residence adjustment in the Freestone County region was $27,536 in 1998.  By 2000 the adjustment represented an increase to $38,935.  A negative number implies that workers commute into the region to earn income but do not reside there.  Growth over time of negative residence adjustments generally implies an eroding tax base for the region.  Similarly, a positive figure implies that on balance the region exports jobs and income to residents of other regions.  

Average Weekly Wage: TWC reported an average weekly wage during 1st quarter 2000 for all covered wages and salaried employment in the Freestone County region to be $489.89.  Average weekly wages for 1st quarter 2001 was $529.57, an increase of 8.1 percent.  This is compared to a statewide increase of 5.4 percent for the same period of time.  The Texas statewide average weekly wage in the 1st quarter of 2001 was $711.32.  These wage data are the result of the reported quarterly wages and salaries paid by employers divided by 13 weeks. 

UI Benefits: The region had $753,599 in Unemployment Insurance benefits paid during calendar 2001.  In the Freestone County region, the average duration before exhausting regular UI benefits in calendar 2001 was approximately 16.43 weeks.  The most likely interpretation of longer duration times is greater difficulty finding a job.  Therefore, duration can serve as a good barometer for local general economic conditions.  The average weekly benefits payment for Regular UI in 2001 was $222.69 for the Freestone County region compared to $213.61 in Texas statewide.  

Household Income: Household income, based on the 2000 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates was roughly $50,010 for the Freestone County region.  This compares to $78,626 statewide.  This figure is much higher than the per capita income level because it includes all wage earners living within a single household.  Also, income data from BEA will be different than income data from other agencies due to that fact the BEA includes other sources of income such as farm wages, dividends, interest, rent and transfer payments.  

Effective Buying Power Index: There is yet another way to view household income and that is in terms of effective buying power or disposable, after tax income.  Effective Buying Income (EBI) is a data variable developed by Sales, Marketing and Management (SMM) magazine.  This variable was benchmarked against the 2000 Census as a measure of bulk market potential or available county after tax income.  The median household EBI for Freestone County was 28,663.  The per capita EBI, essentially the amount of disposable, after tax income available for individuals to purchase goods and services, was $14,212 in the county in 2001.  Statewide the figures were $38,440 for median household EBI and $14,609 for per capita EBI respectively.  

According to SMM there were 6,900 households in Freestone County with roughly 2,027 or 29.38 percent with an EBI of less than $15,000.  Another 1,075 households or 15.58 percent had between $15,000 and $25,000 of disposable household EBI in 2001.  Statewide in Texas 18.9 percent of households had an EBI of less than $15,000 and another 14.7 percent had an EBI of between $15,000 to $25,000.  The largest number of households fall in the $25,000 to $50,000 household EBI range with 1,882 households lying in this range in Freestone County or 27.28 percent of all households. Statewide, 2,222,852 households or 29.1 percent had disposable household purchasing power between $25 and $50,000.  

Poverty Population: In the March 1998 Current Population Survey, the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Census estimated a 1997 poverty population for the Freestone County region for people of all ages at 2,960 persons.  That figure represents 18.3 percent of the non-institutional population compared to a Texas percentage of 16.7 percent for people of all ages.  For families with related children age 5 to 17, the area was estimated to have 753 families in poverty which is 22.1 percent of all Freestone County families with related children age 5 to 17.  This compares to a Texas statewide estimate of 22.1 percent of the same population group.  The estimated number of people under the age of 18 in the study area in poverty was 1,052 in 1997.  This figure was 23.2 percent of all people under 18 in the study area compared to Texas statewide which was 23.6 percent of all people under 18 as estimated in 1997.  According to the 2000 Census, the number of families living below poverty status in 1999 were 458 which was 9.8 percent of all families in the study area.  This compared to 12.0 percent of all families statewide living in poverty status in 1999.  The total number of individuals living below poverty status was 2,321 in 1999 which was 13.0 percent of all individuals in the study area.  This compared to 15.4 percent of all individuals living below poverty status statewide.  

Gross Retail Sales: Income can be viewed in several ways and under different definitions.  Per capita income tends to have a direct relationship with the growth of gross sales and most service sector industries in an area.  Gross sales for the region estimated by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts were $55,423,067 in the 2nd quarter 1999 which represented an increase of 19.4 percent to $66,178,552.00 by the 2nd quarter 2000.  The statewide change for the same period was 11.57 percent in gross sales.  The total number of reporting outlets for the same period was 398 in the 2nd quarter 1999 and 383 in the 2nd quarter 2000.  This region had a decrease of -3.8 percent in the study area compared to the statewide change for the same period of -0.3 percent.

Housing 

Household Units and Size: The total number of housing units in 2000 in Freestone County according the Census was 6,588 with an average household size of 2.5 persons.  The average household size for Texas was 2.7 persons for the same period.  Home ownership rates for this area was 78.8 percent compared to Texas statewide which had a rate of 63.8 percent.  While in Texas statewide the percent of households with persons under 18 years of age in 2000 was 40.9 percent, this study area had a percent of 33.8.  The percent of households with persons 65 years of age or older was 19.9 percent in Texas statewide while 31.4 percent of Freestone County had households with individuals 65 years of age and older.

Types of Structures: While Texas had approximately 63.4 percent of the housing units in the category of one detached structures in 2000 according to the census, the study area had approximately 69.3 percent.  Mobile homes in the area made up 23.6 percent when compared to a statewide percentage of 9.0 percent. More recently built housing structures in the area shows new development has taken place in the region.  The total number of new housing structures built between 1995 and March 2000 was 959 or 11.8 percent in Freestone County compared 13.2 percent statewide.  

Owner and Renter Occupied: According to the 2000 Census, the percent of owner-occupied units with a value of $100,000 or greater in Freestone County was 15.0 percent compared to 36.7 percent for the state. The percent of renter-occupied units with rent values of $500 per month or greater was 21.8 percent as compared to the Texas percentage of 60.4 percent. The median home value in Freestone County according to the 2000 census was $56,000.00 compared to a statewide median value of $82,500. Median rent for the area was $378.00 compared to $574 for the state. For this area, the total number of renter-occupied housing units was 1,397 which represented 21.2 percent of all occupied housing units in 2000. This compares to a Texas statewide percentage of 36.2 percent for the same period.