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Kelly Hancock
Acting Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Kelly Hancock
Acting Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Kelly Hancock
Acting Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
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economy

Texas Military Installations, 2025 Joint Base San Antonio

Joint Base San Antonio is composed of three operating locations: Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) and Randolph AFB.

Fort Sam Houston is one of the oldest posts in the U.S. Army, dating back to 1845.1

  • Fort Sam Houston is home to Brooke Army Medical Center, which provides both inpatient and outpatient services delivered by approximately 8,500 staff members, including active-duty military personnel, federal civilian employees, contractors and volunteers.2

Lackland Air Force Base, originally part of Kelly Field, is the site of the 37th Training Wing, the largest training wing in the U.S. Air Force.

  • It consists of slightly more than 2,900 personnel and over 9,000 students. It is composed of four training groups and one academy for recruits entering the Air Force, Space Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, along with students from 15 partner countries in Latin America. The program graduates over 79,000 students each year.3
  • Lackland also hosts the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center headquarters, which provides moral, welfare and recreation support to Air Force and Space Force bases around the world.4
  • Finally, Lackland hosts the 16th Air Force, a command that focuses on information warfare and is integral to the U.S. Cyber Command.5

Randolph Air Force Base is the headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC).

  • The AETC’s mission is to develop America’s airmen. Over the command’s history, its facilities in Texas and elsewhere have graduated over 25 million students.
  • AFPC is a field operating agency of Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Personnel. This center is responsible for managing personnel and carrying out policies affecting over 2 million Air Force active-duty and civilian members, along with retirees and family members.6

Economic Impact

As of 2025, Joint Base San Antonio is home to 74,713 direct employees, including 33,256 active-duty military personnel. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts estimates the population directly affiliated with Joint Base San Antonio contributed at least $53 billion to the Texas economy in 2025.7

The Comptroller’s office and the Texas Military Preparedness Commission collected economic data from each of the state’s 14 U.S. military installations. This data was collected using a survey designed to ensure consistency in determining the total direct and indirect contribution of the base’s populations to state-level employment, gross domestic product, output and disposable personal income (Exhibit 1).8

Exhibit 1: Estimated Total Contribution of Joint Base San Antonio to the Texas Economy, 2025
Exhibit 1:
Estimated Total Contribution of Joint Base San Antonio to the Texas Economy, 2025
Contribution Value
Total direct employment9 74,713
Total employment (direct & indirect)10 223,349
Output11 $53,513,377,000
Gross domestic product12 $33,945,746,000
Disposable personal income13 $14,551,744,000

Source: Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) – model for Texas


The Comptroller’s economic impact analysis represents a conservative estimate of the importance of Joint Base San Antonio to Texas. Each installation’s distinctive characteristics contribute to the Texas economy in different ways. This analysis uses a consistent model to determine the impact of each of the state’s military installations on the state’s economic growth.

Employment and Other Populations
Exhibit 2:
Employment and Other Populations
Description Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
FULL-TIME DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Active-Duty Army 6,564
Active-Duty Navy 1,134
Active-Duty Air Force 12,908
Active-Duty Marine Corps 143
Active-Duty Coast Guard 193
Active-Duty National Guard/Reserve 12,314
Full-Time Employees Not Listed Elsewhere 6,331
FULL-TIME CIVILIAN PERSONNEL
Appropriated 23,257
Non-Appropriated 3,855
PART-TIME DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Army Reserve 0
Navy Reserve 0
Air Force Reserve 551
Marine Corps Reserve 0
Coast Guard Reserve 0
PART-TIME CIVILIAN PERSONNEL
Appropriated 21
Non-Appropriated 795
OTHER
Contractors, Total (staff) 7,132
Average Daily Student Load 23,867
TOTALS
Total Direct FTE Employment 74,713
Number of Dependents 3,599
Total Indirect FTE Employment 223,349

Source: Joint Base San Antonio


End Notes

  1. Military Installations, “Joint Base San Antonio (Lackland, Randolph, Sam Houston),”. (Last visited May 1, 2026)
  2. Brooke Army Medical Center, “About us,” (Last visited May 1, 2026)
  3. 37th Training Wing “About,” (Last visited May 1, 2026)
  4. Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, “About AFIMSC,” (Last visited May 4, 2026)
  5. Sixteenth Air Force, “About Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber),” (Last visited May 4, 2026)
  6. Air Force Personnel Center, “The Air Force Personnel Center,” (Last visited May 1, 2026)
  7. This study represents an analysis of the economic impact of the population and employees directly affiliated with the base. This includes active-duty, visiting, and other military personnel, dependents, civilian employees and contractors directly affiliated with the base – as reported in documents emailed from Joint Base San Antonio to B. Keith Graf, Texas Military Preparedness Commission, February 2026.
  8. Estimate inputs and assumptions include the following: (1) all data submitted are for 2025; (2) input includes full-time, permanent employees and a full-time equivalent (FTE) for any part-time employees; (3) dependents are associated with the Joint Base San Antonio only; (4) all economic impact is within Texas.
  9. “Total direct employment” refers to both actual full-time and full-time equivalent (FTE) employees plus contractors. For part-time employees, their FTE is calculated based on their hours divided by the standard 40-hour work week.
  10. “Total employment” refers to both direct and indirect employment, meaning “total direct employment” as noted above plus any indirect employees such as temporary contractors.
  11. “Output” refers to the total value of all goods and services (both final and intermediate) produced in Texas. Intermediate goods are those used to produce final goods. Sugar, for example, would be an intermediate good when used in the production of candy (final good) by candy companies.
  12. “Gross domestic product” refers to the total value of all final goods and services produced in Texas.
  13. “Disposable personal income” refers to post-income-tax income.