San Antonio military workforce declines, economic impact continues to grow

​SAN ANTONIO – It’s no secret that San Antonio has a massive military workforce across several installations known as Joint Base San Antonio, or that the number of direct jobs is shrinking as the federal government tightens its belt. 

But the economic impact of those bases continues to grow, despite the decrease in jobs.

In 2012, the local military bases boasted about 83,100 direct employees, according to figures reported to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. 

But when surveyed in 2015, that total had dropped to 77,659 workers. 

This particular economic impact formula does take into account one-time expenses and infrastructure upgrades when calculating its figures, according to the Comptroller’s Office. 

This may explain the bigger chunk of indirect jobs—and larger economic impact—in 2015 than 2012.

For example, in 2012, there were 126,132 indirect jobs estimated as the result of Joint Base San Antonio—but by 2015 that nearly doubled to 205,336 indirect jobs in the Alamo City market.

What that means for the Alamo City is that there’s an economic impact of nearly $49 billion from Joint Base San Antonio operations which adds about $28 billion in gross domestic product, based on the direct employment data reported by the local military bases. 

Earlier this year, Bexar County commissioners and CPS Energy moved forward on a sealed deal in an effort to ensure the longevity of Joint Base San Antonio and secure CPS a 50-year contract with the federal government.​