Economic report for New Braunfels highlights city’s massive growth

More than 15,000 new homes, a more than 50% population increase and property values increasing 132%—these are all benchmarks of New Braunfels’ substantial growth since 2010.

Michael Meek, the president of the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, presented an economic report to City Council during its Dec. 14 meeting that shined a light on the city’s unrelenting expansion.

Some other statistics Meek presented showed in the last decade the city has added more than $5.4 billion in new-property valuations, and the median household income in New Braunfels has grown by more than 26%, surpassing $80,000 in 2020.

“This is higher than the state and metro averages by a lot,” Meek said. “Since 2010, we’ve gone from a median household income in New Braunfels of $52,296 to $81,131.”

One negative data set Meek presented showed the COVID-19 pandemic has shot unemployment in the city up from 2.8% in 2019 back up to 6.5% in 2020, which he said was congruent with figures from 2011.

However, though unemployment is up in 2020, the steady influx of new jobs to the local economy shows an overall employment growth since 2010 of 47%.

However, Meek’s data shows despite the pandemic, sales tax growth in the city is up 4% overall from 2019 to 2020, and since 2003, revenues have shown an overall increase of 233%.

“I always get excited about these reports because ... you’re witnessing success over the last two decades,” Council Member Justin Meadows said. “It’s not surprising why people want to move here.”