ZIP Code 79761

Odessa was founded in 1881 as a water stop and cattle-shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Odessa became the county seat of Ector County in 1891 when the county was first organized. It was incorporated as a city in 1927, after oil was discovered in Ectors County on the Connell Ranch southwest of Odessa. In 1948 Odessa was also the home of First Lady Barbara Bush, and the onetime home of former Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush. It is situated above the Permian Basin, a large sedimentary deposit that contains significant reserves of oil and natural gas. The city is located along the southwestern edge of the Llano Estacado in West Texas. Summers are hot and sunny, while winters are mild and dry. Most rainfall occurs in late spring and summer; snowfall is rare. The area exhibits a large diurnal temperature range and frequent high winds. As of the 2020 U.S. census, there were 114,428 people, 41,942 households, and 28,218 families residing in the city. In 2010, the racial makeup of the city was 75.4% White, 5.7% Black, 1.0% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 14.2% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race was 50.6%. By 2020, the Racial and ethnic makeup was 32.68% non-Hispanic white, 6.12% African American, 2.14% Asian,0.23% Pacific Islanders and 0.01% some other race, reflecting trends of greater diversification.

Etymology

Odessa is said to have been named after Odesa, Ukraine, because of the local shortgrass prairie's resemblance to Ukraine's steppe landscape. The city is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. It is home to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed UNESCO World City of Culture, Science, and Art, which was founded in 1881. It was named after the city of Odessa in Ukraine, where it is located. It has a population of around 2.5 million people, with the majority of its residents living in and around the city's central and southern areas. It also has a number of international airports, including the Port of Dessa, which is located in the city. The name of the city is derived from the name of a nearby town, Odessa, and the word "Odesa" which means "shortgrass" or "steppe" in Ukrainian. It means to refer to the prairie, which resembles the steppe in Ukraine. The town's name also means "city of the shortgrass" in English, and "dessa" means "dense" in the Ukrainian language. It may also mean "city" in Russian, "dessa" or "dessan" in Spanish. It's also known as "Dessa" in Italian and "Dessas" in French. It became a city in the 18th century, when it was founded by the Spanish. The first inhabitants of the town were called "Odessans" and later "Odeans".

History

Odessa was founded in 1881 as a water stop and cattle-shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway. In 1925, the population was just 750; by 1929, it had risen to 5,000. Odessa became the county seat of Ector County in 1891 when the county was first organized. It was incorporated as a city in 1927, after oil was discovered in Ectors County on the Connell Ranch southwest of Odessa. For the rest of the 20th century, the city's population and economy grew rapidly during each of a succession of oil booms (roughly in the 1930s1950s, 1970s, and 2010s) Often with accompanying contractions during the succeeding busts (particularly in the 1960s and 1980s). Odessa was the site of the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, with more than 1,000 people killed in the city in 2010. The city was the scene of the second-largest oil spill in the United States, after San Francisco, in 1969. The largest oil spill was in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, with an estimated 1.2 million barrels of oil spilled. In the 1970s and 80s, Odessa had a population of more than 2,000, with the majority of residents living in and around the downtown area. The town has been home to the University of Texas at San Antonio, which was established in 1883. The university was the first major college in the state to offer a bachelor's degree.

Geography

Odessa is located along the southwestern edge of the Llano Estacado in West Texas. It is situated above the Permian Basin, a large sedimentary deposit that contains significant reserves of oil and natural gas. Summers are hot and sunny, while winters are mild and dry. Most rainfall occurs in late spring and summer; snowfall is rare. The area exhibits a large diurnal temperature range and frequent high winds. The city has a total area of 44.0 square miles (114 km²) of which 43.9 square miles are land and 0.1 square miles of it is water. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 6,816. The population of the city in 2010 was 6,788. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the city had a population of 6,638 in 2010. It has a climate typical of West Texas, with a semiarid climate in the summer and mild winters in the winter. The average temperature in the city is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) The city is located on the Texas-New Mexico border, which is a hotbed of oil production. The state has a high rate of obesity, with the city having a high percentage of obese residents. It also has a low rate of literacy, with less than one-third of the population reaching high school or higher. The town has a large percentage of people living in households with incomes under $25,000.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, 99,940 people, 35,216 households, and 27,412 families resided in the city. By 2020, the racial and ethnic makeup was 32.68% non-Hispanic white, 6.12% African American, 2.14% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, and 2.01% multiracial. The 2020 American community Survey estimated the median household income increased to $63,829 with a mean income of $82,699. The per capita income for the city was $16,096. About 16.0% of families and 18.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.9% of those under age 18 and 14.1% ofThose age 65 or over. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. The city's median income was $31,209, and the median income for a family was $36,869. The population was distributed as 29.8% under the age of 18, 10.6 percent from 18 to 24, 27.8 percent from 25 to 44, 20.0 percent from 45 to 64, and 11.8 per cent who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.21. The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 75.4% White, 5.7% Black, 1.1 per cent Asian, and 1.0 per cent Native American. In 2010, the Hispanic or Latino residents of any race was 50.6%.

Economy

Odessa's main enclosed shopping mall is Music City Mall, which includes Dillards, JC Penney, At Home, Burlington Coat Factory, an indoor skating rink, and CBS affiliate KOSA-TV. Many of the city's largest employers are oilfield supply companies and petrochemical processing companies. The city has taken steps to diversify the energy it produces. In 2009, a wind farm has been constructed in northern Ector County. In November 2007, the city approved a contract with a company that develops armaments for US Army helicopters to begin operations in Odessa. Outside of the oil industry, some of the largest employers in the city are in the education, government, and healthcare industries. According to the city’s 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers were: oil field supply companies, petrochemicals processing companies, and education and government agencies. In 2010, a coal pollution mitigation plant was announced for a site previously entered in the Futuregen bidding. The plant will be run by Summit Power and will be located near Penwell. This plant was supposed to lead to the creation of 8,000 jobs in the area. Plans were also in place for a small nuclear reactor called the High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor to be run as a test and teaching facility in conjunction with the nuclear engineering department at University of Texas of the Permian Basin. In 2011, a new nuclear reactor was also announced for the area, which will be used to test and teach nuclear technology.

Arts and culture

Odessa has a Stonehenge replica on the campus of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Ratliff Stadium, featured in the movie Friday Night Lights, is one of the largest high-school stadiums in the state, listed as seventh in capacity within Texas. The White-Pool House east of downtown is the oldest surviving structure in Odessa, built in 1887 and opened as a historic house museum in 1984. The Parker House Museum is Odessa's newest addition to the historical records of Odessa. The Odessa Jackalopes junior A ice hockey team plays its home games at Ector County Coliseum. Odessa Meteor Crater, an impact crater 550 feet (170 m) in diameter, is located southwest of the city and is horizontally equal to the StonehenGE in England, but only 70% of the vertical height of the original. In February 2010, additional funding allowed the doors of the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library to reopen, with negotiations pending for the university to take control of the museum. It is the only facility of its kind in the United Statesdedicated to the office of the Presidency, not any particular occupant of the Oval Office. The museum was pushed to fruition by the late State Representative George "Buddy" West. The building itself is named for West and his wife, Shirley. It represents the lifestyle of a prominent ranching family, who served the communities of Andrews and Ector Counties since 1907. In 1935, the Parker family moved into this modest house located on 1,290 acres (5.2 km²).

Government

Odessa has a city council of five councillors (elected from geographic districts) and a mayor (elected at-large) The council appoints and directs other city officials, including the city manager, and sets the city's budget, taxes, and other policies. In the 2014 fiscal year, the Odessa government had $179.1 million in revenues, $146.3 million in expenditures, and $454 million in total assets. The city's major sources of public revenues were fees for services (such as public utilities) and sales taxes. Its major expenses were for public safety and for water and sewer service. The U.S. Postal Service operates three post offices in Odessa: Odessa, Northeast Odessa, and West Odessa. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Od Vanessa District Parole Office in Od Vanessa. The City of Odessa is located on the Texas Turnpike, which runs from San Antonio to San Antonio. It is located in the eastern part of the city, near the border with West Texas. It has a population of 2.2 million, and is home to the University of Texas at San Antonio, which has a campus of more than 1,000 buildings. It also has a hospital, the Texas Medical Examiner's Office, and the Texas Diagnostic and Trauma Center, which provides care for the elderly and disabled. The Odessa Police Department is based in the town's downtown area, and has a force of about 1,500 officers.

Education

The University of Texas Permian Basin began in 1973. Odessa College is a public, two-year college based in Odessa. The Ector County Independent School District serves portions of Odessa, as well as the parts of Midland and Ector counties. The city is home to five charter schools and a number of private schools, many of which are Christian. It is also home to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which opened as a school of medicine in 1979. It also operates 21 WIC clinics located in nearby small communities, and has a physician-assistant program on the campus of Midlands College. The Odessa area is zoned to the Midland Independent School district. The town is also part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, and the Texas Army National Guard, based in Fort Worth, Texas. The UTPB's School of Business was awarded accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International in January 2006. The university is in discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the construction of a new High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor. If successful, the reactor would finish licensing and construction around 2012. It would be the first university-based research reactor to be built in the US in roughly a decade, and be one of the few HTGR-type reactors in the world. The school of nursing focuses on primary care and rural health, and offers a master's degree in physical therapy.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Odessa, Ector County, Texas = 94.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 50. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Odessa = 5.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 114,428 individuals with a median age of 32.3 age the population grows by 8.21% in Odessa, Ector County, Texas population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,414.62 residents per square mile of area (932.29/km²). There are average 2.64 people per household in the 36,423 households with an average household income of $44,817 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.50% of the available work force and has dropped -2.08% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 27.34%. The number of physicians in Odessa per 100,000 population = 150.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Odessa = 13.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.8 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 39. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 256. 95 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 30 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 33, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Odessa, Ector County, Texas which are owned by the occupant = 57.81%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 39 years with median home cost = $127,910 and home appreciation of 0.78%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $15.09 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,339 per student. There are 16.3 students for each teacher in the school, 443 students for each Librarian and 368 students for each Counselor. 5.79% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 10.73% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 4.29% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).