Demographics change slowly in Wimberley and Woodcreek

This is the fourth and final part in a series of articles based on the 2020 U.S. Census count of residents.

While other cities in Hays County are growing more racially and ethnically diverse, Wimberley and Woodcreek are moving only slowly in that direction.

The inflow of Hispanics is a trickle in the two West Hays County cities. And the number of people identifying as Black remains tiny.

Those facts emerge from new Census Bureau population headcount data released last month. The count was conducted across the United States in 2020 as required by federal law.

Here’s what the numbers show:

• Hispanics accounted for 11 percent of the Wimberley population in 2010. In 2020, they made up 13.6 percent of the total. The numbers are small: 387 Hispanics in 2020, up from 294 in 2010.

• Hispanics accounted for only 5.4 percent of the Woodcreek total in 2010, with that number rising to 9.9 percent in 2020. Still, only 176 residents of Woodcreek were Hispanic in the 2020 headcount.

For context, the state of Texas has as many Hispanics as Non White Hispanics. An influx of Hispanics between 2010 and 2020 drove an overall population increase in the state, according to data compiled by the Texas Demographic Center.

In Hays County, Hispanics made up 35 percent of the population in 2010 and 38.5 percent in 2020. Hays County, which is growing at the fastest clip of any county in the nation, was 85 percent Non Hispanic White in 1990.

“It seems we’re growing in two places,” said Dr. Joe Kotarba, professor of sociology at Texas State University. “There are Woodcreek and Woodcreek North and they are continuing to be retirement communities. Stable for older people. Even in Wimberley there is growth but that’s not driven by a desire on the part of Hispanics to live here. The second growth area is around San Marcos and to the east.”

And that’s where Hispanics are moving in, said Dr. Sherri Mora, professor of political science at Texas State University and a Wimberley resident.

“They are coming from other states,” she said, mainly California, Florida and Illinois.

“It seems most of the Hispanic growth is in San Marcos and east of the (Interstate 35) area,” said Mary Espinoza, who is active in Hays County politics and lives in Wimberley. She knows first-hand about the in-migration of Hispanics east of I-35 and in the county seat because she has walked those blocks and talked with residents in person. “Hispanics are moving into these areas for housing and jobs. Easy access to I-35 for jobs in Austin, San Marcos and surrounding cities is a driving factor for Hispanic in-migration in those areas. Land seems to be less expensive and more plentiful east of I-35.”

On the other hand, she said, land prices in Wimberley are expensive and are less affordable.

“What happens here is what happens elsewhere,” Kotarba, who is a resident of Woodcreek, said. “You live where you can afford to live.”

Mora said other reasons Hispanics are drawn to this region have to do with cultural commonalities with people who already live here.

In other words, the presence or absence of Hispanics may set the stage for future in-migration of more Hispanics in this county and in the cities within the county.

Kotarba cited the county’s schools, which are viewed favorably.

Wimberley Independent School District had 2,533 students in the 2019-2020 school year, and 25 percent were Hispanic.

What about the future of Hispanic growth in the county and in Wimberley and Woodcreek?

The crystal ball is foggy, the experts indicated.

“I know (my husband) and I feel the lack of Hispanic presence in Wimberley, and we don’t see it increasing,” Espinoza said.

“It seems most of the Hispanic growth is in San Marcos and east of the (Interstate 35) area. Hispanics are moving into these areas for housing and jobs. Easy access to I-35 for jobs in Austin, San Marcos and surrounding cities is a driving factor for Hispanic inmigration in those areas. Land seems to be less expensive and more plentiful east of I-35.”

Mary Espinoza