Williamson County, out of all the counties in the CAHFC region, has perhaps seen the greatest amount of change within the past decade. The county is quite varied in its character ranging from a small town, agricultural based economy in the northern part of the county to the suburban manufacturing and service economy located in the southern part. Williamson County's booming growth can be linked to Austin's booming economy. Dell Computer, which moved its headquarters to Round Rock during the 1990s, has played a key role in the county's growth as the largest employer in the county, as well as perhaps one of the key catalysts of economic growth in the region as a whole. Other major high-tech employers in the county include DuPont Photomask, Cypress Semiconductor, and TECO-Westinghouse, which manufactures electric motors and generators.
The northern and eastern part of the county, which has been extensively utilized for agricultural purposes, is still wooded along its streams with mesquite, oak, pecan, and elm trees. Beef and livestock are top revenue sources for agriculture and various crops are grown including sorghum, cotton, corn, and wheat. About 30 percent of the land is prime farmland. Mineral resources include dolomite, limestone, sand, gravel, oil, and gas.
Besides having grown industrially, Williamson County has exploded as a place to live. Between 1990 and 1999, Williamson County grew by 72.6 percent, adding over 100,000 new residents, only 50,000 less than Travis County, which has a population three times its size. According to the Census Bureau, Williamson County was the fastest growing county in Texas in 1999 and the eighth fastest growing county in the United States as a whole. This population boom has also fueled a housing boom in the county. In 1990, 174 single-family homes were built in Williamson County. In 1999, nearly 4,000 houses were constructed, as well as over 1,600 apartment units. Job growth has been able to keep up and surpass population growth in the county. Williamson County registered the lowest unemployment rate in the region and has not experienced unemployment over two percent in nearly two years.
While Williamson County has encountered phenomenal growth throughout the past decade, its growth has led to issues that need to be addressed, primarily concerning infrastructure. The county has the highest growth rate of children ages 0-17 years in the region, necessitating the construction of additional school facilities. The building boom is placing further strain on the county's water and wastewater systems, requiring not just additional capacity to treat and process, but also additional sources for these resources. Finally, the county, with the largest growth rate in population, also registered the largest growth rate of traffic in the region. To keep up with this growth, improvements to the county's infrastructure need to meet or surpass the rapid rate of growth the county is experiencing.
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