Staff Report
Hays County’s growth in the field of exports brought the county second only to Williamson County in the latest report from Rural Capital Area’s “Headlights”.
Adjusted for inflation, exports for all industries increased to $544 million in 2014 from $385 million in 2009.
Williamson County led area rural exports with $1.769 billion in 2014, up from $1.183 billion in 2009.
Overall, the rural capital area saw an increase to $3.289 billion in 2014, up from $2.2 billion in 2009.
Hays County had a 41.3% increase in inflation-adjusted exports from 2009-2014.
Bastrop County had the highest change during that period, with a 66.3% increase.
The average growth for the United States for the same period was 29.6%.
The Rural Capital Area includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano and Williamson counties.
The largest exported commodities in the Rural Capital Area are semiconductors and precision instruments, which generated $560 million in 2014. Other commodities include agriculture, aircraft products and parts, and construction and mining machinery.
In Hays County, goods and services led the commodities in 2014, followed by transportation equipment, machinery manufacturing, travel and tourism and computer & electronic products.
While Hays County has recently been increasing in its education and medical services, that section of the economy ranked 13th in income for the county, with $13.5 million in 2014.
Source for the figures is the Brookings Institution, based on data from the U.S. International Trade Administration.
