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Chapter 2 Sector One Today The People The People SWT has a major influence on San Marcos. It is the city's largest employer, with about 2,500 employees, and its students, both on and off campus, make up about a quarter of San Marcos' residents in 1996. Surprisingly, Sector One's demographic profile is less dominated by the university's presence than is the city as a whole, although it is situated close to SWT. That is not to say that Sector One is not impacted by being part of a "college town", where the majority of adults are young, single, renters. According to the 1990 Census, of the adults in the sector, 42% have never been married, 43% are between 18 - 34, and 58% rent their homes. These figures are lower than for the city as a whole, but higher than those for a city without a college or university. There is a higher percentage of married people in Sector One than in the city as a whole (42% vs. 31 %), a higher percentage of family households (50% vs. 46%), more owner occupied units (42% vs. 32%), and a more even distribution of population across age ranges. Over forty-two percent of the City's population is between ages 18 - 24 , while 23% of Sector One's residents fall in that age range. Sector One has almost twice the percentage of residents age 65 and over (13%) than does the city (7%), and not surprisingly almost twice as many widowed residents (7% vs. 4%). Overall household size (HHS) in Sector One (2.35 persons) is lower than that for the city as a whole (2.92). Family HHS in the sector is 3.25, while non-family HHS is 1.42. Ethnically Sector One almost mirrors the city profile. Of the people in Sector One and the city as a whole, approximately 55% are White non-Hispanic, 38% are Hispanic, 6% are Black, and American Indian, Asian, and Other account for about 1 %. Demographic tables for Sector One are presented on the following page. Current Population Estimating current population requires an accurate knowledge of the existing housing stock, and reliable estimates of household size and housing occupancy rate. It also assumes there is an accurate base population count. The base count for Sector One is the block-level 1990 Census Bureau count for the City of San Marcos. Household size was also derived from these block level figures. The December 1996 housing survey of Sector One by the City of San Marcos Planning and Development Services Department provided an current count ofthe housing stock. An assumption of 98% occupancy was used. 2-15