MILAM COUNTY ECONOMY GROWS BY 13%

(December 5, 2024) ROCKDALE, Texas – The US Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released its annual figure for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by County. GDP is the measure of all goods produced and services provided with an area for a particular period of time. This figure shows that Milam County’s economy grew by 12.8% from 2022 to 2023 to a total of $904 million. Adjusting for inflation, the Milam County economy grew by 10.6%.

The data is categorized by industrial sector. The economic output of total private industries, where wealth is created, increased to where it is now 88% of the economy. The government sector also grew but at a slower pace than private industry.

The industries experiencing the largest growth were Agriculture, Real Estate, and Information. The industries having the largest percentage growth was Restaurants and Utilities. The only industrial sector to contract was Mining.

Presently, the largest industrial sectors that make up the Milam County economy are Real Estate (28%), Construction (12%), Mining (11%) - combined, these three industries make up 51% of total economic output.

However, much work remains to regrow the manufacturing sector, which peaked in 2007 and is 84% smaller in 2023.

The lowest GDP figures came in 2020. Adjusting for inflation, Milam County’s economy has grown 23% since that year. The Milam County economy is only 17 percentage points away ($187 million in economic output) from having an economy greater than or equal to its’ previous height in 2011.

It is possible that 2025 will be the year when Milam County crosses that economic threshold. There are multiple projects at the former ALCOA property and within Rockdale that should induce sufficient manufacturing economic output to push the economy to recovery.