San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. It is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plains to the northeast, and Central Texas to the southeast. According to the 2020 United States Census, San Angelo had a population of 99,893. It is the principal city and center of the San Angelo metropolitan area, which had a population of 100,159.

San Angelo is home to Angelo State University, historic Fort Concho, and Goodfellow Air Force Base. It is home to the Concho Valley Baptist Association and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Angelo.

History

In 1632, a short-lived mission of Franciscans under Spanish auspices was founded in the area to serve native people. The mission was led by the friars Juan de Salas and Juan de Ortega, with Ortega remaining for six months. The area was visited by the Castillo-Martin expedition of 1650 and the Diego de Guadalajara expedition of 1654.

During the region's development, San Angelo was at the western edge of the area called Texas, successively claimed in the 1800s by Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and finally the United States in 1846.

The city of San Angelo was founded in 1867, when the United States built Fort Concho, one of a series of forts designed to protect the frontier. The fort was home to cavalry, infantry, and the famous Black Cavalry, also known as buffalo soldiers by American Indians.

The settler Bartholomew J. DeWitt founded the village of Santa Angela outside the fort at the junction of the North and South Concho Rivers. He named the village after his wife, Carolina Angela. The name was eventually changed to San Angela. It changed again to San Angelo in 1883 on the insistence of the United States Postal Service, as "San Angela" is ungrammatical in Spanish. The town became a trade center for farmers and settlers in the area, as well as a fairly lawless cowtown filled with brothels, saloons, and gambling houses.

After being designated as the county seat, the town grew quickly in the 1880s, aided by being on the route of newly constructed railroads. It became a central transportation hub for the region. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888 and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway in 1909. After a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak hit the U.S. in the early 1900s, many patients moved to San Angelo. At the time, doctors could only recommend rest in dry, warm climates. TB sufferers went to San Angelo for treatment, and a sanitarium was built in nearby Carlsbad.

In 1928, the city founded San Angelo College, one of the region's first institutes of higher education. The city had been passed over by the Texas State Legislature to be the home of what would become Texas Tech University. San Angelo College, one of the first municipal colleges, has grown to become Angelo State University. The military returned to San Angelo during World War II with the founding of Goodfellow Air Force Base, which was assigned to train pilots. San Angelo grew exponentially during the oil boom of the 1900s, when vast amounts of oil were found in the area, and the city became a regional hub of the oil and gas industry.

The San Angelo Independent School District is a public school district based in San Angelo, and was one of the first in Texas to integrate, doing so voluntarily in 1955.

San Angelo was famous for the Miss Wool of America Pageant, an annual event organized by the National Wool Growers Association (U.S.).

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 58.2 sq mi (150.9 km), of which 2.3 sq mi (6.1 km) (4.03%) are covered by water.

San Angelo is on the northwestern edge of the Edwards Plateau and the northeastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert at the junction of the North and South Concho Rivers. The city has three lakes: Twin Buttes Reservoir, O.C. Fisher Reservoir, and Lake Nasworthy. The Middle Concho River joined the South Concho several miles upstream, but the confluence has been obscured by the Twin Buttes dam.

San Angelo is about west of Austin."A death wish for Tracie's killer A Minnesota family wants the kind of justice they couldn't get at home." Minneapolis Star-Tribune. January 27, 2003. Retrieved July 18, 2016.

Climate San Angelo falls near the boundary between the subtropical semiarid scrubland (Köppen BSh) and midlatitude scrubland climates (Köppen BSk). It is in the region where Central Texas meets West Texas weather. Temperatures reach about 30.1 days per year on average. In 2011, San Angelo recorded 100 days of or higher. The typical year has 60.3 days with lows below freezing. Snow and sleet occur a few times a year. The city has an average annual precipitation of , with the wettest calendar year being 2016, with , and the driest 1956, with .

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +San Angelo city, Texas – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)52,93450,66348,11459.85%54.36%48.17%Black or African American alone (NH)4,0133,8873,8464.54%4.17%3.85%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3073502930.35%0.38%0.29%Asian alone (NH)8129891,6390.92%1.06%1.64%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)50701350.06%0.08%0.14%Other race alone (NH)851163140.10%0.12%0.31%Mixed race or multiracial (NH)9171,2633,2431.04%1.36%3.25%Hispanic or Latino (any race)29,32135,86242,03933.15%38.48%42.35%Total88,43993,20099,893100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, San Angelo had a population of 99,893, with 23,026 families residing in the city. The median age was 35.1 years.

About 23.3% of residents were under18 and 16.6% were 65 or older. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males, and for every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.2 males 18 and over.

About 98.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.3% lived in rural areas.

Of the 39,454 households in San Angelo, 30.6% had children under 18 living in them, 41.9% were married-couple households, 21.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.

The city had 43,316 housing units, of which 8.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.3%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 62,711 62.8% Black or African American 4,355 4.4% American Indian and Alaska Native 877 0.9% Asian 1,728 1.7% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 166 0.2% Some other race 11,199 11.2% Two or more races 18,857 18.9%

2010 census As of the census of 2010, 93,200 people, 36,117 households, and 22,910 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,601 people/sq mi (618/km). The racial makeup of the city was about 83.0% White, 5.4% African American, 1.4% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 11.3% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 38.5% of the population.

Of the 36,117 households, 27.6% had children under 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were not families. About 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city, the age distribution was 23.4% under 18 and 13.8% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32.8 years. The population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

The median income for a household in the city was $38,777, and for a family was $49,640. Males had a median income of $33,257 versus $26,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,970. About 13.9% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

San Angelo has consistently been ranked by many sources as one of the best small cities for business and employment. In 2013, it ranked fourth in the nation in Forbes magazine's "Best Small Cities For Jobs" rankings. In 2010, Kiplinger's Personal Finance named San Angelo one of the "Best Cities of the Next Decade". In 2009, CNN Money ranked San Angelo as one of the best cities in which to launch a small business.

San Angelo has a diverse economy for a city of its size. Although most oil fields lie to the west, many oil-field service companies based in the city employ a large number of residents. San Angelo's agricultural industry remains strong. Producer's Livestock Auction is the nation's largest for sheep and lambs, and is among the top five in the nation for cattle auctions. Though most agricultural work is done outside the city, thousands of employees work in the cattle and lamb meat-processing industries, and many more in agriculture supporting roles in the city. Two agricultural research centers are in San Angelo: the Angelo State University Management Instruction and Research Center and the Texas A&M Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo.

The telecommunication industry is a major employer in San Angelo. Sitel has a call center there. Frontier Communications, Performant Recovery Inc. (formerly DCS), a debt recovery corporation, and Blue Cross all employ over 1,000 people each locally. San Angelo serves as the regional medical center for west-central Texas. Shannon Medical Center employs over 3,000 in San Angelo and provides services to a large region of west-central Texas. The manufacturing industry has seen hits since the 1990s, but many large employers still remain, including Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, Conner Steel, and Hirschfield Steel.

San Angelo's large institutional employers include Shannon Medical Center, Angelo State University, and Goodfellow Air Force Base. The last remains the largest employer in the region, employing or providing income for over 24,000 in San Angelo.

The Sunset Mall, the area's major shopping mall, opened in 1979.

Government

Arts and culture

San Angelo Museum of Art The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts opened in 1999 in downtown San Angelo on the banks of the Concho River, built with local limestone and end-grain Texas mesquite. It attracts over 85,000 visitors a year, and is home to the National Ceramic Competition.

San Angelo Performing Arts Center The San Angelo Performing Arts Center (SAPAC) provides access to the highest level of performing arts by presenting local, national, and international touring shows at two historic venues: the 1,350-seat 1928 Murphey Auditorium and the Stephens Performing Arts Center (formerly a Coca-Cola factory), which contains the 300-seat Brooks and Bates Theater, a black-box theater, seven ballet studios, and administrative spaces. Since its inaugural 2017–18 season, SAPAC has hosted over 100 performances annually.

Art galleries Downtown San Angelo is home to a collection of art galleries. The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; Art in Uncommon Places has an outdoor Pop Art Museum and maintains Paintbrush Alley. A free trolley service is available to the public during Downtown Stroll events.

San Angelo Symphony The San Angelo Symphony, founded in 1949, presents five concerts a year. They take place on the first Saturdays of October, November, December, and February in the Murphey Performance Hall. The last concert of the season is at Angelo State's Junell Center on the last Saturday of March.

Angelo Civic Theatre