County
Taylor County, Texas
County ranked by announced AI data-center load
2.1 GW
Announced AI load
Resi rate Δ (AEP Texas)
n/a
Population (2024 ACS)
146K
Median HH income (2024 ACS)
$67,139
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Key takeaways
- Abilene's 127,130 residents now share their grid with Stargate, which the city's own 2026 timeline lists as one of its largest employers at over 6,400 workers. That is more than Hardin-Simmons, McMurry, and Abilene Christian combined and almost matches Dyess Air Force Base's 8,864.Source: sources[0] (Wikipedia: Abilene, Texas) + Census ACS 2023 B01003
- ERCOT's deregulated retail market means AEP Texas does not publish a single residential rate. EIA cannot report a 3-year rate delta for Taylor County, so the household-bill impact of 2.1 GW of new AI demand is invisible in the standard data.Source: data/cache/utility_rate_yoy.csv (no AEP Texas residential row)
- Property taxes in Taylor County rose 9.4% over three years on a county median household income of $66,406 and a median home value of $190,300. The Abilene ISD and Taylor County CAD have flagged Stargate's land transactions as the lead driver of rising assessed values.Source: data/cache/property_tax_yoy.csv (FIPS 48441) + Census ACS 2023 B19013, B25077
- Stargate Abilene is anchored by an Oracle lease backed by a $2.3 billion JPMorgan loan to the Crusoe / Blue Owl / Primary Digital joint venture. Crusoe Phase 2 adds another 900 MW dedicated to Microsoft, all on the same Abilene parcel.Source: sources[1] (Wikipedia: Stargate LLC) + data/sites/data_centers.csv
Local socioeconomics
- 24.8% of Taylor County residents are Hispanic and 8.0% are Black, against a 70.5% white share. The Hispanic share is the largest in any West Texas county in this batch and twice Shackelford's next door.Source: Census ACS 2023 B02001, B03003 (FIPS 48441)
- Unemployment in Taylor County is 2.1%, the tightest labor market in this batch and well below the 3.7% national figure. Stargate is hiring 6,400 workers into a county that has effectively zero slack.Source: Census ACS 2023 B23025 (FIPS 48441)
- 9.2% of Taylor County adults are veterans, the largest veteran share among the Texas counties in this batch. Dyess Air Force Base across the county line keeps the share high and gives Stargate a security-cleared talent pipeline that other Stargate counties lack.Source: Census ACS 2023 B21001 (FIPS 48441)
- Median gross rent in Taylor County is $1,111 per month and 59.8% of homes are owner-occupied, the lowest ownership rate of the four West Texas counties here. Abilene is the rental market the rural Stargate Texas counties cannot match.Source: Census ACS 2023 B25064, B25003 (FIPS 48441)
Campuses in this county