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Population
- 63% of the region’s population is housed in Lubbock, Potter, and Randall counties
Economy
- From 2003 to 2013, the per capita persona income growth in the region was 53%, which is higher than the Texas average of 46% and U.S. average of 37%
- Personal income grew from $20.8 billion in 2003 to $34.5 billion in 2013, which makes the region’s total personal income greater than those of Vermont and Wyoming.
- Per capita income remains lower than the Texas average, though the gap has narrowed over the past four years. In 2013, the region’s average per capita income was $40,275, compared to $43,862 statewide.
- Job growth in the region was 11.4%, which is lower than the Texas average of 19.6% but significantly greater than the U.S. average of 4.7%
- Crop production generated more than $12.2 billion in Texas High Plains economic activity in 2010.
Challenge: Health Care Access
Physicians in the High Plains Region face the unique challenge of providing health care access to an aging population across a vast and sparsely inhabited area
The region has only 22 people per square mile and a population 8 percent older than the Texas averages. So, while demand for health care remains strong, providers are largely clustered in the region’s two metropolitan centers: Amarillo and Lubbock.
The region’s level of physicians (per 100,000 residents) is 13 percent lower than Texas as a whole, and it contains 43 percent of the state’s doctor-less counties. Trends do not indicate a change on the horizon — first-year residency positions at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center remained flat for fiscal years 2013 through 2015.
Fun Facts
- More than 75 varieties of win grapes grow in the high plains region
- Lubbock is the only U.S. city with a university, health sciences center, agriculture college and law school in one location