Early Arrivals
I Between 1923 and 2015 over 29 billion barrels of crude oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were pulled from beneath the Texas Permian Basin, making it one of the most prolific oil-producing regions in the world. The search for oil altered the region’s desert ecology and economy, facilitating the growth of a complex industrial network connecting the isolated region to a global system of extraction and commerce.
In the early 1920s, oil discovery prompted an immediate population boom, bringing thousands to Texas’ least populous counties. Oil production, and human migration to West Texas, slowed down in the early 1930s due to a combination of the Great Depression and the discovery of the East Texas field. However, the population boom picked up again in the late 1930’s, continuing – with some exceptions – until the 1970s.
The population of the region’s more rural counties, such as Andrews, Yoakum Howard, and Glasscock, rose and fell as much as 90 percent in response to oil production.
In contrast, the region’s urban centers of Odessa and Midland experienced steady population expansion until the 1990s. For example, in 1940 the population of Midland County was 9,352. In 1950 it increased to 21,713. It increased again 1960 to 62,625.
Its All Relative
However, these numbers are relative. Population boom in the sparsely populated western half of the state made up only a fraction of the total Texas population. This was true in 1920, and has continued until the present day.
Above data from US census 1890-1990. “Permian Basin Population” represents county-level data. Counties of Permian Basin as determined by Texas RR Commission .